Canadiens vs. Islanders: Game thread, rosters, lines, and how to watch

The dust has settled following the trade deadline. The New York Islanders did not make any noise at all, while Montreal sent a pair of its regular lineup players to new homes.

The Islanders haven’t played since last Saturday when they clashed with division foe New Jersey in a 2-1 loss, their third straight at that point. Montreal will look to make that four straight games. The Canadiens themselves have lost two extremely close contests in the shootout to the division leading Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning, while putting a stomping on the hapless New York Rangers.

Out of all the deadline pieces acquired, it looks like Mike Reilly will be the only one to make his debut tonight, as both Kerby Rychel and Rinat Valiev spend some time helping out the Rocket in Laval. Andrew Shaw will also return from injury tonight.

This game has the potential to be a high scoring, sloppy affair as both sides have penalty kills in the bottom part of the NHL, and the Islanders tend to give up chunks of goals with relative ease. Montreal will still be forced to keep the Isles handful of scoring threats at bay in John Tavares, Mathew Barzal, Anders Lee and Jordan Eberle, not an easy task for a defensive unit that has struggled this year. Either way, tonight’s contest should be an entertaining affair.

Puck drop is at 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST

How to watch

In Canada: Sportsnet, Sportsnet Now (English), RDS (French)
In the Islanders region: MSG+
Elsewhere: NHL.tv/NHL GameCentre Live, NHL Center Ice

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Forwards

Defence

Goaltenders

Scratched: David Schlemko, Daniel Carr, Nicolas Deslauriers, Logan Shaw
Injured: Ales Hemsky (concussion), Carey Price (concussion), Shea Weber (foot)

New York Islanders projected lineup

Forwards

Defence

Goaltenders