Game Preview: Roy Returns To Montréal, Islanders Battle Canadiens

MONTREAL -- With his number 33 hanging in the rafters, Patrick Roy and the New York Islanders (20-16-11) face the Montreal Canadiens (19-21-7).

Puck drop from Bell Centre is scheduled for 7:00 PM. 

The Islanders suffered their first loss since Roy took over as bench boss on Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas scored the lone goal of the opening period off the stick of Ivan Barbashev. Brock Nelson tied the game early in the second on a delayed penalty, but Vegas tallied two goals less than two minutes apart. Sheldon Rempal beat Ilya Sorokin far side on the power play, and Nicolas Roy finished a rebound to give Vegas a 3-1 lead through two periods. Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored around the halfway mark of the third, but that was as close as the Islanders could get in a 3-2 loss.

The Islanders did not skate this morning.

After missing three weeks with a lower-body injury, Semyon Varlamov will make his return to the crease on Thursday (6-4-2, 2.78 GAA, .918 SV%). Varlamov will also reunite with his former head coach Roy, who he played for from 2013-14 to 2015-16. In 13 games against the Canadiens, he is 6-2-2 with a 2.70 GAA and .917 SV%, despite letting up four goals on 40 shots in a 5-3 defeat on Dec. 16.

Pierre Engvall will return to the lineup after suffering an upper-body injury during the Islanders’ most recent road trip. He resumed skating with the team on Sunday.

A change in defense is probable for the Islanders. Mike Reilly slotted in for Samuel Bolduc against Vegas, but Roy previously said it would be a rotation between the two left-handed blueliners.

Montreal skated at CN Sports Complex on Thursday.

Sam Montembeault left the ice first for the Canadiens, he will make his 22nd start and 23rd appearance of the season (10-7-4, 3.11 GAA, .903 SV%). In seven career matchups against the Islanders, he is 2-2-2 with a 2.31 GAA and .929 SV%, most recently letting up three goals on 33 shots in their last meeting.

Montreal will be making a change at forward following a callup on Wednesday. Lucas Condotta returned from AHL Laval and made his season debut; Jesse Ylönen will be taken out of the lineup. 

Anders Lee - Bo Horvat - Mathew Barzal

Pierre Engvall - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri

Simon Holmstrom - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Julien Gauthier

Matt Martin - Kyle MacLean - Cal Clutterbuck

Alexander Romanov - Noah Dobson

Adam Pelech - Sebastian Aho

Samuel Bolduc - Scott Mayfield

Semyon Varlamov

Ilya Sorokin

Cole Caufield - Nick Suzuki - Josh Anderson

Juraj Slafkovsky - Sean Monahan - Joel Armia

Brendan Gallagher - Jake Evans - Rafael Harvey-Pinard

Lucas Condotta - Johnathan Kovacevic - Michael Pezzetta

Michael Matheson - David Savard

Jayden Struble - Kaiden Guhle

Arber Xhekaj - Johnathan Kovacevic

Sam Montembeault

Jake Allen

Brock Nelson recorded his 500th NHL point on Tuesday. He is the 12th player in franchise history to reach the milestone with the club and boasts a three-game point streak entering Thursday’s game, boasting a goal and two assists.

Alexander Romanov and Noah Dobson also have points in three straight heading into Montreal. Dobson has five assists across his point streak, while the former Canadien Romanov has a goal and two assists.

Pageau and Simon Holmstrom connected for a shorthanded strike for the first time since Dec. 19. Holmstrom leads the league in shorthanded points with seven following his assist, and Pageau sits in a three-way tie for second with six.

Nelson leads active Islanders in goals and points against the Canadiens with 17 and 24, respectively, as well as a three-game point streak against Montreal. The forward has five goals and an assist in that span. Kyle Palmieri leads the Islanders in helpers against Montreal with 11.

Montreal enters Thursday’s game off a 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. Ottawa struck for two quick goals in the first period off the sticks of Ridly Greig and Jake Sanderson, and Shane Pinto added on in the second. Johnathan Kovacevic got Montreal on the board in the third, but Mathieu Joseph put the game on ice with an empty net goal, giving the Senators the victory over their division rival.

The Islanders and Canadiens first met this season on Dec. 16, with Montreal earning a 5-3 win. New York struggled to find footing in the first 40 minutes and paid for it in the second period. Goals from Joel Armia, Cole Caufield, and a pair from Josh Anderson put Montreal up 4-0 after two periods. New York attempted a comeback in the third with two goals from Nelson and a red light from Bo Horvat, but Christian Dvorak put the game out of reach with an empty net goal.

Cole Caufield owns a seven-game point streak coming into Thursday’s game. The former first round pick boasts five goals and four assists, nine points, in that span.

Following his two-goal performance in their first meeting, Anderson now leads Montreal skaters in goals against the Islanders with nine. He overtook Brendan Gallagher, who leads in assists and points with 11 and 18, respectively. Recently, Nick Suzuki has enjoyed success against New York, boasting a four-game point streak with three goals and two assists. 

With Roy making his return to Montreal, his team is the betting favorite via OHGamblers.

On the money line, New York enters at -155, and the Canadiens start at +130. The over/under starts at 6.5 goals, the under favored at -120 compared to the over at +100. How To Watch

Thursday night’s game is available on MSGSN. On the radio, the contest will air on 88.7 FM WRHU, 103.9 LI News Radio and 1050 AM ESPN.