Game Preview: Islanders at Canadiens

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (22-18-4) AT MONTREAL CANADIENS (18-20-5)
7:30 P.M. BELL CENTRE
TV: NBCSN
RADIO: 88.7FM, AM 970, 103.9FM
MORNING SKATE UPDATES
Fresh off a 7-2 blowout win over the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders look to make it three straight victories when they take on the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night at Bell Centre.
The Islanders (48 points) two-game streak has them one point behind the Rangers for the second wild card, but they are tied with Philadelphia and Carolina in the ultra-tight Metropolitan Division. Both the Flyers and Hurricanes are off on Monday giving the Isles a true chance to get back in - at least temporarily.

"I think our position in the standings is enough motivation," Head Coach Doug Weight said on Sunday.
The injury-depleted Islanders will down another significant on Monday, as Casey Cizikas will miss the contest with an upper-body injury. Cizikas joins Josh Bailey, Andrew Ladd, Johnny Boychuk, Nikolay Kulemin and Calvin de Haan as injured Islanders in what Weight has nicknamed his M.A.S.H unit.
"He won't be playing the next little while at least," Weight said of Cizikas. "We're going to have to find a way. Six or seven really big names and key pieces of our team. That's why you have depth."
The Islanders recalled Tanner Fritz on Sunday and placed Ladd on injured reserve, retroactive to Jan. 5.
The Islanders are going for a third straight win over the Canadiens as well, as they won the final two meetings last season. The Isles two-game winning streak over the Canadiens follows a seven-game winless streak against le bleu, blanc, et rouge.

LINEUP NOTES:

UPDATE: GREISS IN GOAL. FRITZ IN FOR CIZIKAS. SAME DEFENSE.
Tanner Fritz was recalled from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers under emergency conditions on Sunday. He practiced with Jason Chimera and Cal Clutterbuck and will likely slot into Cizikas' role.
Josh Bailey skated before the Islanders practice on Sunday, but is not ready to return.
Weight has yet to name a goalie for the contest, but with a home-and-road, back-to-back set, it's highly likely that both Thomas Greiss and Jaroslav Halak will see action over the two games.

BY THE NUMBERS:

100 - NHL games for Anthony Beauvillier.Beauvillier will play the milestone game in his hometown, as he hails from Sorel-Tracy, about an hour outside of Montreal. Beauvillier has four points in his last two games.
4 - goals in four games for Cal Clutterbuck. Clutterbuck has goals in two straight games and in three of his last four.
Power Play:Islanders 20.5% - 12th, Canadiens 19.2% - 15th
Penalty Kill:Islanders 73.9% - 30th, Canadiens 77.8% - 26th

ISLES ON NBCSN:

Monday's game will be featured on NBCSN. It's the Islanders only scheduled game on national tv this season, but it will have a local flavor, as Islanders play-by-play man Brendan Burke has the call. He's the first Islanders play-by-play man to call a nationally-televised Islanders' game since Howie Rose and Chico Resch on Feb. 7, 1998, per statistician Eric Hornick. Burke will be paired with Brian Boucher.

THE CANADIENS:

Last Game: L 4-3 SO vs Boston
Leading Scorer: Goals: Brendan Gallagher - 16
Assists:Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk - 13
Points: Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk - 24
The Canadiens are facing an uphill battle to get back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Montreal is eight points out of the East wild card, but they'd have to leapfrog six teams, including the Islanders.
Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty has goals in three straight games entering Monday's contest. Pacioretty is tied for the team lead in assists (13) and points (24) with Alex Galchenyuk.
Carey Price is 2-0-1 in his last three starts. The Habs goalie is 13-14-3 with a 2.88 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage, his highest GAA and lowest SV% since the 2012-13 season.