Game Preview: Islanders at Canadiens

NEW YORK ISLANDERS AT MONTREAL CANADIENS

7 PM | CENTRE BELL

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The New York Islanders are headed up north to take on the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, looking to extend their point streak to three games.

The Islanders earned their first shutout of the season in a 3-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at UBS Arena. Ilya Sorokin made all 29 saves, Simon Holmstrom scored a second-period tally and an empty-net goal for his second career multi-point game of his career and Anders Lee had two points (1G, 1A) in the victory.

The Canadiens are coming off a 6-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Sunday evening. Cole Caufield (2G) and Emil Heineman scored while Cayden Primeau made 24 of 29 saves in the loss.

MORNING SKATE UPDATES

- Casey Cizikas is a game-time decision against Montreal, per Head Coach Patrick Roy, after he missed New York Islanders morning skate on Tuesday.

The forward has two points (1G, 1A) through 25 games this season. Pierre Engvall skated in Cizikas’ place with Matt Martin and Hudson Fasching. Engvall missed Saturday’s contest as a healthy scratch. Roy said that he's considering dressing seven defensemen and 11 forwards for the second straight contest depending on Cizikas' status.

In other news, JG Pageau is still considered a game-time decision. He took line rushes with Kyle MacLean and Oliver Wahlstrom in Tuesday's morning skate.

Ilya Sorokin is expected to start on Tuesday against the Canadiens. Sorokin is 6-6-3 this season, along with a .915 SV%, a 2.52 GAA and one shutout.

SEASON SERIES

The Islanders lead the season series 1-0-0 after a 4-3 SO win at UBS Arena on Oct. 19, where Noah Dobson won it for the Isles in the ninth round of the shootout. The win marked their fourth consecutive win over the Habs on home ice, but the Islanders haven’t had luck on the road against the Canadiens in their last four games, going 0-2-1 in their last three trips to Bell Centre.

ISLES NOTES

- Per Head Coach Patrick Roy, JG Pageau is a game-time decision after he missed the last two games with a lower-body injury. If he plays, Roy said he'd shift Pageau back to center on a line with Kyle MacLean and Oliver Wahlstrom.

- Marcus Hogberg was recalled on an emergency basis after the team announced that Semyon Varlamov is day to day with a lower body injury. Varlamov will still travel with the team to Montreal.

- Simon Holmstrom has consecutive multi-goal games, with four goals in his last two outings since he's been skating on a line with Bo Horvat and Anders Lee. Per Islanders team statistician Eric Hornick, Holmstrom is the first Islander with consecutive multi-goal games since Lee did it from Mar. 7-10 in the 2021-22 campaign. Holmstrom is also the first Islander to do it in back-to-back games since Mathew Barzal (Dec. 28-29, 2018).

- Saturday’s contest marked the 17th game in 33 days for the Isles, as they went 6-7-4 in that busy stretch.

- Anders Lee has five points (2G, 3A) in his last two outings. Lee’s 10 goals are tied with Kyle Palmieri and Nelson for the team lead, while Palmieri leads the pack in with 20 points. Lee's game-winner on Saturday was the 41st of his career, which tied Clark Gillies for sixth in franchise history.

- The Islanders held their opponent scoreless in the third period for the first time since Oct. 22 and third time all season. Their 38 goals allowed in third periods is a league high.

- Brock Nelson leads the Islanders with 25 points (17G, 8A) in 30 career games against Montreal.

HABS NOTES

- Tuesday’s contest opens a five-game homestand for the Canadiens, who are eighth in the Atlantic Division with 19 points and a record of 8-13-3. Montreal is at the NHL-.500 on home ice, with a record of 5-5-2 at Centre Bell. Their away record tells a different story, as the Canadiens are 3-8-1 in away games with a .282 points percentage, which ranks 32nd in the NHL.

- The Canadiens loaned Joshua Roy to Laval after a four-game stint where the 2021 fifth-round draft pick (150th overall) averaged 10:57 TOI per game. The transaction could indicate that Patrik Liane could make his season – and Habs - debut against the Islanders. Montreal acquired Laine from the Columbus Blue Jackets in the offseason but a preseason injury kept him out of the lineup. Laine, 26, has not played since Dec. 14 where he suffered an upper-body injury and had a setback in his recovery.

- Captain Nick Suzuki leads Montreal in scoring with 24 points (9G, 15A) and is riding a three-game point streak (2G, 3A).

- Cole Caufield is having a hot start to the year with a team-leading 16 goals, which ties for third-most in the NHL, through his first 24 games. The winger has eight points (5G, 3A) in seven career games against the Islanders.

- After a stingy start where the Canadiens’ penalty kill went 28-for-31 (90%), it has seen a drop since, going 40-for-52 (76%) in their last 15 games. Overall, their PK ranks seventh in the NHL (81.9%).

- Rafaël Harvey-Pinard has been assigned to the Laval Rocket, the Canadiens' AHL affiliate on Sunday, after the forward went unclaimed from waivers. The 25-year-old has not played in an NHL game this season and has 10 points (2G, 8A) through 45 games of the 2023-24 campaign.