Johnny Boychuk (above) returns to Boston along with Chad Johnson when the Islanders take on the Bruins later tonight. https://twitter.com/NYIslanders

After a quick start, the Islanders have dropped two in a row. They’ve come back to earth falling at Pittsburgh and getting blitzed by Toronto at home 5-2 on Monday. A game that saw the Maple Leafs erupt for four unanswered goals in a 8:49 span during the second period.

Top defenseman Travis Hamonic was injured and won’t play tonight at Boston. The Islanders announced that they’ve activated Lubomir Visnovsky off IR. The veteran will replace Hamonic in the lineup. Tonight marks the returns of Johnny Boychuk and Chad Johnson at TD Garden. Coach Jack Capuano will give Johnson his second start. He won his first making 21 saves against the Hurricanes on Oct. 11.

“It’s a different feeling coming back when there is no animosity on both sides. It’s just like, ‘okay, this is the way it is. It’s a process.’ It’s always nice leaving on a good note because you always want to leave a good mark wherever you are, a positive mark in the locker room, in the community or with the fans,” Johnson told reporters about facing his old team.

For Boychuk, it should be emotional with the former Stanley Cup winner facing the team that gave him a chance. The former Avalanche ’02 second round pick came over in ’08-09 and became a regular the following season. He spent six years in Beantown becoming a dependable top four defenseman coach Claude Julien knew he could count on. The 30-year old was a cap casualty with the Bruins dumping his salary to the Islanders before the season. He started like a house on fire putting up six points (2-4-6) in the Isles’ first three wins. Since, Boychuk’s without a point over the past three with a plus-one rating.

Offensively speaking, captain John Tavares continues to produce. With a goal and assist Monday, he’s tied with Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Tyler Seguin for first in scoring with 10 points (3-7-10). Linemate Kyle Okposo is also off quickly with two goals and six helpers. Second-year forward Brock Nelson has four goals and four assists. Ryan Strome has quietly tallied six assists but is without a goal.

Mikhail Grabovski sat out the last two games with an upper body injury after absorbing a big hit from Sharks bruiser John Scott. Following early tests that he didn’t suffer a concussion, he has experienced symptoms. He’ll miss a third consecutive game. Here are the Islanders projected lines below.

Conacher-Tavares-Okposo

Kulemin-Nielsen-Bailey

Lee-Nelson-Strome

Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

Leddy-Boychuk

Hickey-Visnovsky

De Haan-Strait

Johnson

Halak