GAME DAY | Canadiens – Islanders: Preview, Prediction, Lines, Goalies, TV

Sam Gerber

March 2, 2018

GAME DAY | Canadiens – Islanders: Preview, Prediction, Lines, Goalies, TV

Game Preview by Sam Gerber

Last game: MTL 3 NYI 1

The Habs were outplayed but took advantage of weak goaltending by Jaroslav Halak scoring three unanswered goals. The Canadiens power-play gave up three short-handed breakaways but Antti Niemi stopped them all.

For a complete recap: Scherbak Shines Again

Players to watch

John Tavares
Tavares will be tough to stop at home as he wants to put an end to the Islanders four game losing streak.
Charlie Lindgren
Lindgren gets the start after posting a shutout in his last game against the Flyers.
Nikita Scherbak
Scherbak had a strong game on Wednesday against the Isles scoring his second goal of the season. He moves up to the third line tonight.

Keys to Victory

Force turnovers
The Islanders struggle on defense and have had bad goaltending all season. A strong forecheck should create good scoring chances for the Habs.
Win the possession game
The Canadiens need to keep the puck away from the Isles high-powered offense.
Slow them down
Standing the Islanders up in the neutral zone will frustrate the forwards and not allow them to gain speed to enter the Canadiens zone.

Matchup by All Habs staff
Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY \| March 2, 7:00 PM ET \| TV: SN, TSN2, RDS, MSG
	2017-18 statistics
ISLANDERS	2017-18 statistics	CANADIENS
65 (20th)	Points (rank)	58 (26th)
29-28-7	Record	24-29-10
16-11-4	Home/Away	8-19-2
3-6-1	Last 10	2-4-4
3.20	GF/G	2.51
3.53	GA/G	3.02
20.8	PP%	21.2
74.3	PK%	77.3
47.62	CF%	51.10

eSAT Analytics by Mathieu Chagnon

Projected forward lines, defense pairings and goaltenders
Forwards
Lee – Tavares – Fritz Beauvillier – Barzal – Eberle Ladd – Nelson – Bailey Johnston – Wagner – Clutterbuck	Pacioretty – Danault – Lehkonen Galchenyuk – Drouin – Gallagher Byron – De La Rose – Scherbak A. Shaw – Froese – Carr
Defensemen
Leddy – Boychuk Pelech – Aho Davidson – Pulock	Mete – Petry Alzner – Juulsen Reilly – Schlemko
Out of the lineup
Scratched: Seidenberg, Cizikas, Hickey Injured: de Haan, Prince, Kulemin, Greiss, Quine, Mayfield	Scratched: Deslauriers, L. Shaw, Benn Injured: Weber, Hemsky, Price, Hudon
Goalies
Jaroslav Halak	Charlie Lindgren

Record: 18-21-5 GAA: 3.18 Sv%: .911 SO: 1 Alternate: Christopher Gibson	Record: 3-4-2 GAA: 2.13 Sv%: .933 SO: 2 Alternate: Antti Niemi

What to Expect by Sam Gerber

Prediction: Canadiens 3 Islanders 2

The Islanders should be in an ornery mood knowing that their playoff hopes are slipping away. If the Habs can frustrate the Isles and force them to take penalties, they will have a good chance for another victory.

Highlights from the NHL

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2017-18 statistics