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

By
Sam Gerber
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Game Preview by Sam Gerber
Last game: MTL 0  PHI 1  (SO)  

It was a goalie showdown between rookie Charlie Lindgren and new Flyers netminder Petr Mrazek. Each player earned a shutout.

For a complete recap: Habs Lindgren Earns Shutout in Shootout Loss

Players to watch

  • John Tavares
    The Islanders will lean on Tavares to lead his team into the playoffs. 
  • Matthew Barzal
    Barzal is one of the favorites to win the Calder trophy. His speed makes him dangerous on every shift.
  • Mike Reilly
    Reilly is likely to make his debut for the Habs after being acquired at the trade deadline. Reilly is a smooth skating defenseman that Julien compared to Victor Mete.

Keys to Victory

  • Push the pace
    With the Habs playing for pride, they can afford to take chances with the puck to generate some offense.
  • Show some offense
    Being shutout once again in their last game should be incentive to ramp up the tempo of their game to start generating offence.
  • Win battles
    The Canadiens need to focus on winning every battle on the and the rest will take care of itself.
Matchup by All Habs staff
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC | February 28, 7:00 PM ET | TV: SN, RDS, MSG+

2017-18 statistics
ISLANDERS CANADIENS
65 (20th) Points (rank) 56 (27th)
29-27-7 Record 23-29-10
13-16-3 Away/Home 15-10-8
3-5-2 Last 10 2-4-4
3.24 GF/G 2.50
3.54 GA/G 3.05
21.0 PP% 20.8
74.6 PK% 77.0
 47.39  CF%  51.31
eSAT Analytics by Mathieu Chagnon
 
Projected forward lines, defense pairings and goaltenders
Forwards
Lee – Tavares – Bailey
Beauvillier – Barzal – Eberle
Ladd – Nelson – Fritz
Wagner – Cizikas – Clutterbuck		 Pacioretty – Drouin – Lehkonen
Galchenyuk – Danault – Hudon
Byron – De La Rose – Gallagher
Scherbak – Froese – A. Shaw
Defensemen
Leddy – Boychuk
Hickey – Pulock
Pelech – Davidson		 Mete – Petry
Alzner – Juulsen
Reilly – Benn 
Out of the lineup
Scratched: Aho, Johnston, Seidenberg
Injured: de Haan, Prince, Kulemin, Greiss, Quine
 Scratched: Deslauriers, L. Shaw, Schlemko, Carr
Injured: Weber, Hemsky, Price
Goalies
Jaroslav Halak Antti Niemi
Record: 18-20-5
GAA: 3.18
Sv%: .911
SO: 1
Alternate: Christopher Gibson		 Record: 3-6-2
GAA: 3.76
Sv%: .890
SO: 0
Alternate: Charlie Lindgren
 What to Expect by Sam Gerber
Prediction: Canadiens 2  Islanders 4 

The Habs can play spoilers for the rest of the season, something that can motivate players to play a little bit harder. The Habs need to come out strong and shutdown the Isles centers for them to having a fighting shot.
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