The Montreal Canadiens will be taking on the New York Islanders tonight at UBS Arena.
Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St-Louis wasn't pleased with his team's effort on Thursday night. It will be interesting to see if they come out ready to play this time. We already know Kaiden Guhle won't be playing as he didn't travel with the team, but we won't know what other changes he may make to his lineup until the media availability, which is set for around noon.
Michael Matheson had a treatment day yesterday but did travel with the team. Jayden Struble and Logan Mailloux (freshly recalled from Laval) will both be eager to make their season debuts, and Arber Xhekaj seems to be the likely candidate to make way following the coach's recent media availability.
Juraj Slafkovsky, who left practice after he appeared to hurt his shoulder on a routine shot, did travel with the team, but the coach couldn't say if he would be available to play today. Meanwhile, in net, Cayden Primeau hasn't played since he was shellshocked in Boston in a 6-4 defeat. The bench boss wouldn't say which of his masked men will get the nod, but keeping the backup on the bench for too long is not exactly advisable. Ultimately, Primeau got the nod and will play his second game of the year.
Samuel Montembeault has eight career starts against the New York Islanders with a 3-2-3 record. He has a respectable 2.46 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage in those eight games. As for Primeau, he has never faced tonight's opponent. On the other size, Ilya Sorokin has got a brilliant record against the visitors, he's 4-0-1 with a 1.38 GAA and a .954 SP. As for Semyon Varlamov, he's played against the Habs 15 times and has a 7-3-2 records with a 2.75 GAA and a .910 SP, those are not bad numbers, but Sorokin's are more impressive.
Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield have put up good numbers against the Isles. The former has 12 points in 11 games, while the latter has 6 points (including 3 goals) in as many games. The team's leader in points against them is Brendan Gallagher, with 18, but he has played them 28 times.
On the other hand, Kyle Palmieri has amassed 21 points in 24 games against the Habs, while Brock Nelson has 25 in 29 tilts. Jean-Gabriel Pageau has 17 points in 33 games against Montreal, including three shorthanded markers (penalty killers beware) and three game-winners.
Tonight's opponent has four points in four games, thanks to a win, a regulation loss, and tie-breaking losses. Patrick Roy's men have been capable of the best (beating the Utah Hockey Club 5-4 in OT and the Colorado Avalanche 6-2) and of the worst, being blanked twice (3-0 against the Dallas Stars and 1-0 against the St. Louis Blues).
It will be the first of three meetings between the two sides this season and their 181st regular-season match. The Canadiens have the upper hand with a 98-57-15-10 record, but the teams have won five of the last ten games each, and the Islanders won the last game with a 3-2 overtime win.
This article will be updated throughout the day as the lineup information becomes available.
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