Five things you should know about the Canadiens Islanders game at the Bell Centre on Wednesday (7 p.m., SN, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, by Pat Hickey.
1 The matchup
This is the first game of a homeand-away series with the rematch set for Friday night in Brooklyn. The teams have met once this season with the Islanders winning 5-4 in overtime at the Bell Centre on Jan. 15. The Islanders are struggling to earn playoff spot, but they haven’t made any progress lately. They are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games and trail Columbus by four points in the battle for the final wild-card position.
2 Niemi vs. Halak
Charlie Lindgren is coming off a shutout against Philadelphia Monday night, but it will be Antti Niemi making the start against the Islanders. Niemi has earned points in his last two starts with a win over the New York Rangers and a shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Islanders will counter with Jaroslav Halak and Montreal fans will remember him for his heroics in 2010, when he led the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference final.
3 Holes remain in the middle
The Canadiens picked up a solid AHL player, a defence prospect and a second-round draft pick when they traded Tomas Plekanec to Toronto this week, but it left the Canadiens weaker at centre. The Canadiens were chasing the puck Monday against the Flyers because they won only 33 per cent of their faceoffs. Jacob De La Rose, who replaced Plekanec, won 11 per cent of his faceoffs, while Jonathan Drouin won 22 per cent.
4 Where’s the scoring?
The Canadiens have dropped to 29th in the NHL with an average of 2.5 goals a game after being shut out by Philadelphia on Monday. It was the ninth time this season the Canadiens have failed to score a goal. Max Pacioretty, who will miss the 30-goal mark for the first time in five seasons, is leading the team with 37 points.
5 Tavares, Lee lead Islanders
Speaking of 30-goal scorers, John Tavares and Anders Lee have each hit that mark this season and are tied for seventh in the NHL goalscoring race. It’s familiar territory for Tavares, who has collected four 30-goal seasons. But Lee, who was selected in the sixth round in the same draft, has been a pleasant surprise.