Canadiens at Islanders
Saturday night features a marquee matchup between two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference - though neither club is playing like it. The Montreal Canadiens look to seize sole possession of the top spot in the conference as they host a New York Islanders team that is stumbling down the stretch. The Canadiens have lost five of their last six games, while the Islanders have dropped five of seven - including back-to-back 2-1 decisions to the New York Rangers and Ottawa.
The Islanders' sudden goal-scoring drought has come at a bad time, with the rival Rangers surging ahead in the Metropolitan Division race and owning a whopping four games in hand. New York was victimized by the goaltending exploits of Ottawa's Andrew Hammond on Friday, as the rookie turned aside 34 shots to leave the Islanders without a point on their three-game homestand that wraps up Saturday. Montreal fell 5-2 to Ottawa on Thursday on a rare off-night from Carey Price.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TVA (Montreal), CITY, NBCSN
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (42-19-7): Concerns were raised Thursday over whether Montreal spent too much time sitting back after building a 2-0 first-period lead against the Senators. Montreal went on to allow five unanswered goals in the defeat, but coach Michel Therrien says he has no plans to alter the team's philosophy heading into the final stretch of regular season games. "Regarding system and stuff like that," he told reporters Friday, "we're not changing it. Nothing. I don't think any team at this time of year is changing anything."
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (43-23-4): New York isn't about to make wide-scale changes itself; despite tallying just twice in the first two games of a critical homestand, the Islanders can't be accused of failing to generate chances. New York fired 65 shots at Hammond and Rangers netminder Cam Talbot, and is averaging better than 33 shots over six March games. Despite needing goals, coach Jack Capuano may elect to rest forward Frans Nielsen on Saturday night as he deals with a nagging lower-body injury.
OVERTIME
1. Montreal has won five of six meetings, most recently a 6-4 triumph Jan. 17 at the Bell Centre.
2. The Canadiens have prevailed in nine of their last 11 games against teams with winning records.
3. Price is 8-3-3 with a 2.62 goals-against average in 14 career games versus the Islanders.