The Montreal Canadiens get another opportunity to play leapfrog in the Eastern Conference standings, as they visit the New York Islanders.
A win could move them into 11th place, depending on what the Tampa Bay Lightning do tonight. Both the Islanders and Lighting have two games in hand over Montreal.
The Islanders are 6-2-2 in their last ten games, coming off a 1-0 shootout win over the Flyers, Tuesday night.
Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov has been a big part of the Islanders’ recent success, winning seven of his last nine starts, while allowing just a single goal or less in six of them.
The Russian netminder has faced just two shots against the Habs this season, stopping both. His only appearance came was a less than eight minute relief of injury prone Rick DiPietro, in the Islanders 4-3 win back in October. Nabokov is 5-2-0 (2.81, .893) in his career versus the Canadiens.
Update: Aaron Palushaj, just called up, is a healthy scratch.
MONTREAL CANADIENS PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
Erik Cole – David Desharnais – Max Pacioretty
Rene Bourque – Lars Eller – Louis Leblanc
Travis Moen – Tomas Plekanec – Mathieu Darche
Double shift – Scott Gomez – Andrei Kostitsyn
Defensemen
Hal Gill – Raphael Diaz – Chris Campoli
Goalies
NEW YORK ISLANDERS PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
Matt Moulson – John Tavares –Kyle Okposo
Michael Grabner – Frans Nielsen – P.A. Parenteau
Matt Martin – Josh Bailey – Rhett Rakhshani
Tim Wallace – Jay Pandolfo – Nino Niederreiter
Defensemen
Andrew MacDonald – Dylan Reese
Goalies
Evgeni Nabokov – Al Montoya
Canadiens vs Islanders coverage
SBN Islanders Coverage from Lighthouse Hockey
