Five things to watch when the Canadiens (38-28-7) play the New York Islanders (42-24-7) Thursday (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio), according to Stu Cowan.

1

The playoff race

The Canadiens head into the game one point behind the Columbus Blue Jackets (40-29-4) for the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a 30.7 per cent chance of making the playoffs, according to sportsclubstats.com. The Blue Jackets visit the Edmonton Oilers Thursday (9 p.m., SNE, SN1, TVA Sports), so the Canadiens could possibly jump into a playoff spot by the end of the night.

2

The rematch

The Canadiens lost 2-1 to the Islanders last Thursday in New York when Anders Lee scored at 17:03 of the third period following a bad pass in the offensive zone by Jonathan Drouin and then a giveaway at the offensive blue line by Max Domi. This will be the third and final meeting between the Canadiens and Islanders this season. The Canadiens won 4-3 in a shootout on Nov. 5 in New York.

3

The Shaw Factor

Andrew Shaw called out his teammates after last Thursday’s loss to the Islanders, saying: “Everyone … all lines, all D, goalie, everyone’s got to be playing their best every night. Lines are taking nights off, players are taking nights off.” Here’s what coach Claude Julien had to say about Shaw on Wednesday: “I don’t think he called out the team without calling himself out. That’s pretty clear. He was part of that group … I think they called themselves out and they responded well … in big games, Shawsy’s usually a factor.”

4

The Drouin Watch

Drouin is now pointless in 16 of the last 17 games and has only four assists during that span, all coming in an 8-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 26. “There’s no doubt he’s feeling pressure,” Julien said. “He’s a local kid, he wants to do well. Those things can weigh heavily.”

5

De-fence! De-fence!

Last season, the Islanders had the worst defence in the NHL, allowing an average of 3.57 goals per game. This season, under new head coach Barry Trotz, they have the best defence, allowing an average of 2.37. However, the Islanders are coming off a 5-0 home loss to the Boston Bruins Tuesday night. scowan@postmedia.com twitter.com/ StuCowan1