Canadiens at Islanders
THE STORY: The New York Islanders will occasionally entice their fans with a string of solid play. They are not in one of those stretches right now. The Islanders have dropped four straight and 10 of 11 to drop into their customary place at the bottom of the Atlantic Division. They have surrendered a total of 18 goals in the past four contests. The Montreal Canadiens were also a last place team until Wednesday night, when they jumped over .500 for the first time this season with 4-0 victory over Carolina. Winners of three of their last four and seven of 10, the Canadiens will try to keep it rolling when they visit New York on Thursday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, RDS (Montreal), MSG+ (New York)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (8-7-3): It has been a long, slow climb for Montreal, which sat at 1-5-2 after a home loss to Florida on Florida on Oct. 24. In the 10 games since that loss the Canadiens have surrendered an average of 1.9 goals, capped by their first shutout on Wednesday. Montreal has been at its best on the penalty kill, stopping 39 of 41 chances over the last 10 games.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (4-8-3): New York did show one positive sign on Tuesday in a 4-2 home loss to the rival Rangers, going a perfect 4 of 4 on the penalty kill. It marked the second time in the last eight games that they had not allowed at least one tally on the penalty kill. The Islanders had the game tied up at 2-2 before allowing two tallies in the final five minutes. Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov fell to 1-5-0 in his last six starts.
OVERTIME:
1. Islanders RW Kyle Okposo was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career on Tuesday. He does not have a goal in 14 games.
2. Nabokov is 5-2-0 with a 2.87 GAA in seven career starts against Montreal.
3. The teams split four meetings last season, with the Islanders taking the final two.