The Boston Bruins and New York Islanders are both struggling to score and win early in 2024-25.

The New York Islanders and the Boston Bruins have never been compared to one another.

That's until right now. 

Boston and Long Island have both struggled out the gate here in the early goings of the 2024-25 season. 

The Bruins are playing to a 10-10-3 record, 23 points, through 23 games to sit in the Eastern Conference's second wild-card spot.

They've also fired their head coach, Jim Montgomery, and elevated assistant coach and former Islanders forward Joe Sacco to interim status. 

The Islanders are 8-9-5, with 21 points in 22 games, two points back of Boston in the wild-card race.

Despite getting chance after chance in their games, the Bruins and the Islanders' are not finishing their chances, with Boston averaging 2.22 goals per game, the worst in the NHL.

The Islanders are close by, sitting 29th at 2.45 goals per game. 

Here's a fun fact: Boston and Long Island have been shut out four times this season. 

While the Bruins may sit a tad higher in the standings, the advantage goes to the Islanders on Wednesday night, given that they host a team that just got shut out 2-0 by the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. 

The Bruins have only had one back-to-back this season and are 1-0. 

They beat the Seattle Kraken 2-0 on Nov. 2 after shutting out the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 the day before. 

If the Islanders can find a way to get a regulation win, a significant problem for this squad this season, they can enjoy Thanksgiving and potentially hold down a wild-card spot. 

A handful of games Wednesday night across the NHL will impact the Eastern Conference standings, so we'll have to watch the rest of the league.