Islanders Gm 56: Matinee in Montreal, Romanov Makes Return

The New York Islanders (27-23-5) have a great opportunity to right the ship as they face the Montreal Canadiens (20-27-4) Saturday afternoon, with puck drop at 12:30 PM. The location, the Bell Centre, a great venue to watch a hockey game.

Before the 6-5 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday, the Islanders came out of the All-Star break looking like a new team with Bo Horvat. But a lackadaisical effort Thursday ended their four-game winning streak, and now we are at the point where every game against a weaker opponents must end in two points, or a playoff spot drifts farther and farther away.

The Montreal Canadiens are in the cellar of the Eastern Conference and have not played in 10 days due to the All-Star break and their bye week.

The Islanders will not be skating, given the early start time, but were on the ice for practice on Friday.

Alexander Romanov makes his return to Montreal for the first time since being traded this past summer at the 2022 NHL Draft.

“We just need to win this game and just keep it going. It was a bad game last night,” Romanov told NYI Hockey Now said about his return.

Today at Hockey Night in New York, we are hosting a live stream of the game with commentary, analysis, and more so tune in HERE at 12:30 for some fun!

Friday’s Practice Synopsis

Semyon Varlamov was in the right-side crease, which at the Bell Centre is the away net, so using context clues, we very well could see him get the start against the Canadiens.

Ilya Sorokin was not at his best against the Kraken and could use a game off.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau missed practice, but Islanders head coach Lane Lambert said there’s nothing to be concerned about, so the expectation is that he will play.

The Quebec-native Samuel Bolduc served as an extra at practice, as Sebastian Aho is back in the mix alongside Noah Dobson, occupying the quarterback position on the second power-play unit.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS LINES (PROJECTED)

Josh Bailey-Bo Horvat-Mathew Barzal
Anders Lee-Brock Nelson-Kyle Palmieri
Zach Parise-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Simon Holmstrom
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Hudson Fasching

Adam Pelech-Ryan Pulock
Alexander Romanov-Scott Mayfield
Sebastian Aho-Noah Dobson

Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin

MONTREAL CANADIENS LINES (PROJECTED)

RHP-Suzuki-Anderson
Hoffman-Dach-Dadonov
Pitlick-Dvorak-Ylonen
Drouin-Belzile-Pezzetta

— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) February 9, 2023

ISLANDERS NOTES

Today, the New York Islanders visit the Montreal Canadiens in the second of three matchups between the two clubs this season. It is the Islanders’ lone visit to Montreal this season and their first since April 15, 2022.

The Islander and Canadiens last met less than one month ago, on January 14, when Casey Cizikas scored, and Scott Mayfield and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each tallied assists in a 2-1 Islander win.

The Islanders have won four of their last five matchups and will look to earn their second straight win against an Atlantic Division opponent in today’s meeting.

DRAFTKINGS BETTING CORNER

Do you think the New York Islanders will beat the Montreal Canadiens? You can get the Islanders at -210 &  +125 on the puck line. The Canadiens come in at +180 & -145 on the reverse puck line.

The over for the contest is 6 at -105, with the under at -115.

Head over to DraftKings to place your bets now!

HOW TO WATCH

Saturday’s contest will be available on MSGN. On the radio dial, the game can be heard on 1050 AM ESPN, 88.7 FM WRHU, and 103.9 FM LI News Radio.