Canadiens at Islanders
The red-hot Montreal Canadiens and their 11-game point streak visit the New York Islanders on Tuesday. Montreal, which is 8-0-3 during that span, rallied to defeat Northeast Division rival Boston 4-3 on Sunday to take sole possession of the Eastern Conference lead. Montreal went with backup goaltender Peter Budaj against the Bruins after Carey Price allowed a season-high seven goals against the Penguins in an overtime loss Saturday. With 15 goals in their last three games, the Canadiens are getting offense from almost every line. David Desharnais has five points in that span as does rookie Brendan Gallagher. Max Pacioretty, who leads Montreal with 20 points, has seven as part of a four-game scoring streak.
The Islanders is 1-2-1 on their seven-game homestand Sunday after defeating the Ottawa Senators 3-2 in a shootout. New York is 3-8-1 at home this season and 29th in the league with 75 goals allowed, but the Islanders defeated the Canadiens at Montreal 4-3 in overtime on Feb. 21 thanks to rookie defenseman Thomas Hickey’s first career goal. Starting goaltender Evgeni Nabokov has allowed 10 goals in three starts on New York’s homestand, while backup Kevin Poulin allowed three goals in his only start of the season - a 4-2 loss to Carolina.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, RDS, MSG Plus 2
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (14-4-4): Tomas Plekanec scored his team-leading ninth goal Sunday, snapping a six-game scoring drought. Defenseman Andrei Markov, who has 13 points this season, earned his first at even strength Saturday when he assisted on a goal by Desharnais. Markov will be counted on to produce more during 5-on-5 play while defenseman Raphael Diaz (13 points) is out with a concussion. Defenseman P.K. Subban has three points in his last three games and five in his last six. Montreal has scored a power-play goal in five of its last six games.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (9-11-2): John Tavares leads the team with 13 goals and 25 points. Matt Moulson has 24 points. Andrew MacDonald has blocked a team-high 58 shots, while Travis Hamonic is second with 40. Matt Martin leads the league with 104 hits and leads the team with 40 penalty minutes. New York’s power play has been cold since scoring three times against New Jersey on Feb. 16, going 3-for-28 in the last eight games. Brad Boyes has one goal in his last nine games. Kyle Okposo’s three-point game on Thursday against Toronto snapped a four-game point drought and 18-game goal drought.
OVERTIME
1. Islanders F Frans Nielsen, who scored in the shootout Sunday, has converted 25 of 40 attempts in his career, a 62.5 percent rate. No other player with more than 25 attempts has scored on better than 50 percent.
2. Montreal won its last visit to Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 4-2 on Feb. 9, 2012.
3. The Canadiens’ longest point streak is 28 games, set in the 1977-78 season.
PREDICTION: Canadiens 4, Islanders 1