Islanders at Canadiens
THE STORY: The bottom two teams in the Eastern Conference face off Saturday as the Montreal Canadiens host the New York Islanders. Montreal is 14th in the East, one point behind Carolina. The Canadiens are 3-0-2 in their last five and have won two of three at home. New York occupies the basement in the East. The Islanders, who are kicking off a five-game road trip, have lost seven of eight away from home.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New York), CBC, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (28-32-11): All-Star John Tavares enters Saturday's contest with a four-game goal-scoring streak. Tavares leads New York with 31 tallies. Defenseman Mark Streit is one point away from hitting the 40-point plateau for the fourth straight campaign. Jay Pandolfo was selected by a group of New York beat writers as the Islanders' nominee for the Masterton Memorial Trophy. "It's an honor," Pandolfo said. "Some of the guys that have won this before have come back from a lot more than I did, so to be named among those guys means a lot." After 13 seasons with the New Jersey Devils, Pandolfo played a dozen games in the American Hockey League before shoulder problems brought his campaign to an end.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (28-32-12): Tomas Plekanec scored his second shorthanded goal of the season in Friday's overtime loss to Ottawa, giving Montreal three players with at least two shorthanders. Lars Eller and Mathieu Darche also have two. The New Jersey Devils, who have five, are the only team with more players with two or more shorthanded tallies. Defenseman Andrei Markov lasted three games in his return from knee surgery before going back on the sideline. Markov sat out Friday's contest with an upper-body injury. He is listed as day-to-day. Defenseman Josh Gorges recorded 10 blocked shots, raising his league-leading total to 213.
OVERTIME:
1. The Canadiens have lost eight of their last nine games against Eastern Conference teams.
2. New York has dropped five of six meetings with Northeast Division clubs.