Boston, as befits a leader, is in good shape. In the last 17 meetings, the team lost only once in regular time. And even then Seattle, which itself is having a good season. The rest of the “bears” were flawless. They beat L.A. on foreign ice by 3 wickets, the fifth line of a conference having suffered only one loss in a handful of games before meeting Boston. They proved stronger than Pittsburgh in the Winter Classic, which is adjacent to the Islanders. Well, they dealt a blow to Toronto, which has yet to leave the race in pursuit of leadership.
It’s hard to say so many nice words about New York because the band is so bad right now. In the last 6 matches, 1 win. And even then over Montreal, which is among the weaker ones this season. They lost to Calgary and Edmonton, who are far from the top. Edmonton had a series of defeats before the meeting with the “Islanders”, in fact, their form left much to be desired, but New York did not cope. Calgary doesn’t look like St. John’s wort either, playing unstable. At the same time, they played with the Islanders in the first period. And they didn’t win in regular time against Dallas and Washington, who have been losing a lot lately.