WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE BELL CENTRE
Nick Suzuki was named the Molson Cup recipient for the month of November on Monday. The Habs captain collected nine points in 12 games during the month and will be presented the trophy ahead of puck drop on Tuesday.
After the Canadiens dominated not only the Islanders, but the entire league over four consecutive seasons, winning the Stanley Cup in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979, it was the New York’s turn to take the reins. A foundation of talented youth, including Montreal native Mike Bossy, powered the Isles to four straight Stanley Cups in 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983, respectively. To celebrate the latest edition of the storied rivalry, play our “Name that dynasty” trivia game for a chance to win a jersey signed by four-time Stanley Cup champion, Pierre Bouchard.
TEAM COMPARISONS
Roy’s Islanders land in Montreal with momentum after blanking Buffalo on Saturday. Before that, though, it was a rough stretch—three straight losses and six in seven—contributing to the 16 setbacks New York has faced this season, including overtime and shootout losses. Special teams haven’t helped in a lot of those defeats. The Islanders rank second-to-last in both power play and penalty kill percentage this season. And when you don’t score a lot of goals, as the Isles haven’t, conceding on the penalty kill becomes even more damaging. That said, the NYI are the most disciplined team in the NHL so far, and staying that way will be their best recipe for a shot at two points on Tuesday.
The Canadiens’ weekend in New York and Boston could be summed up in more ways than one, but “frustrating” feels about right. Martin St-Louis’ group flat-out deserved to win Saturday’s outing against the Rangers, and outside of 70 seconds in the first period, they didn’t play all that bad against the Bruins, either. But we’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: moral victories won’t cut it this season. With five consecutive games at the Bell Centre ahead of them, now’s the time for the Habs to turn their season around, and it starts on Tuesday against an Islanders team that’s sailing much of the same seas. Time to make home ice count.
SEASON SERIES
Oct. 19 @ NYI: 4-3 (SO) NYI
Dec. 3 vs. NYI:
Mar. 20 @ NYI:
PLAYERS TO WATCH FOR
Who else would it be for the Canadiens right now than Cole Caufield? Sixteen goals on the season, four in his last three games and five in his last four outings against the Islanders gives us fair reason to believe he’ll be alarming the Isles’ radar when the puck drops at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Kyle Palmieri has been a problem for the Canadiens in recent matchups. Tied as the Isles’ leading goalscorer this year, Palmieri has lit the lamp in his previous three games against Montreal.
BY THE NUMBERS: ISLES-HABS
Here’s how the Islanders and Canadiens match up by the numbers:
