Game 25: Montreal Canadiens vs. New York Islanders
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Islanders region: MSGSN
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
If the Canadiens were eager to change their fortunes on Sunday after officiating played a part in costing them a game the previous night, they sure didn’t play that way versus the Boston Bruins. With their rival struggling to score goals this season, they Habs stood back and watched their opponent score three goals in a span of 70 seconds in the opening period that proved too great a hole to climb out from.
As poor as the Canadiens have been to start this season (five games under .500 and second-last in the league standings), a lot of their issue is not being able to put forth a consistent effort from game-to-game, or even shift-to-shift. They have several members struggling who were supposed to be staples of the top six, but when a veteran like Mike Matheson joins them as he did at TD Garden, there’s little hope of earning a win.
Montreal was able to at least make things more respectable on the scoreboard by turning a 5-1 deficit into a 5-3 game late. A week earlier, they threatened to recover from a 5-0 hole in the third period, completely changing their game to mount pressure in the offensive zone. The players knows how to play a competitive style and show that for at least a portion of each game they play. They just don’t care to do it for 60 minutes at a time, and that’s why they’re headed for another long off-season.
At least in their case, most of the core players are young and will have a new opportunity next year and many more after that to find the everyday form a post-season team needs. The New York Islanders don’t have that same outlook. They have just one more win than the Canadiens, despite the third-oldest roster in the league at an average of just under 30 years of age. The addition of Patrick Roy behind the bench was supposed to spark a group that has been together for several seasons, but it looks like they’re also destined to finish outside of a playoff position, making it four seasons since their last playoff series win.
| Canadiens | Statistics | Islanders |
|---|---|---|
| 8-13-3 | Record | 9-10-6 |
| 48.4% (23rd) | Scoring-chances-for % | 49.5% (17th) |
| 2.83 (21st) | Goals per game | 2.56 (27th) |
| 3.83 (32nd) | Goals against per game | 2.96 (12th) |
| 20.8% (15th) | PP% | 12.9% (31st) |
| 81.9% (7th) | PK% | 69.8% (31st) |
| 0-0-1 | Head-to-Head Record | 1-0-0 |
Having to place Mathew Barzal on Long-Term Injured Reserve after 10 games has been a devastating blow to the team, but he only had five points at the time of his injury. Despite Anthony Duclair playing just five games before sustaining a lower-body injury the first time these two teams played, his total of two goals still ranks ninth on the Islanders’ leaderboard. They have three players with 10 goals (Kyle Palmieri, Anders Lee, and Brock Nelson), but there’s no Cole Caufield-calibre scorer in the lineup, mostly because they always finish just high enough in the standings to miss out on such players in the draft. They find themselves in the dreaded no man’s land, and that’s a hard place to get out of without committing to a rebuild, a word that isn’t in Lou Lamoriello’s vocabulary.
It doesn’t help this year that one of the few good, young players they do have is having an off year. Noah Dobson emerged as a star of the future with 70 points in 79 games a season ago. Through 25 games, the Prince Edward Islander sits on just 10 points and has a team-worst -9 rating. Roy had been using him more than any other player hoping the slump would come to an end, but in the last game on November 30 versus Buffalo, he played a season-low 17:53.
The bright spot is Simon Holmström, the third-year winger who is on pace for a career season. He comes into today’s match having scored two goals in each of the past two games. He’ll be one of the few players the Canadiens need to focus on in this game — but they still have to prevent the others from walking right to the crease as the Bruins were allowed to do on Sunday.
