Hamburgler’s Habs, Gm 45: Islanders vs. Canadiens, Game Notes & More

The New York Islanders (18-20-6) finish off their two-game homestand with a Sunday matinee game against the Montreal Canadiens (9-33-7). Puck drop is slated for 2 PM at UBS Arena.

Recently acquired goaltender Andrew Hammond, AKA ‘The Hamburgler’, will make his first start in four years, as he will be in between the pipes for Montreal.

The New York Islanders are coming off a rather critical win over the Boston Bruins, a 4-1 victory this past Thursday that added confidence to the group. The Montreal Canadiens snapped a 10-game losing streak on Thursday with a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues.

These two teams, the New York Islanders and Montreal Canadiens, had successful postseason runs in 2021. The New York Islanders lost 1-0 in Game 7 of the semi-finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Montreal Canadiens defied all odds and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals but fell in five games to Tampa.

The Montreal Canadiens have already fired their general manager this year, as Marc Bergevin was let go on November 28. On February 9, head coach Dominique Ducharme was relieved of his duties, and Martin St. Louis was hired as the interim head coach. 

St. Louis is 1-3-0 in his first four games behind the Montreal bench.

“Our focus always has to be on that first game. I mean, do I think we would be where we are at this point in the season? No, and I’m sure the Canadians feel the same way,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “But there’s stuff that is in your control, and there’s stuff that’s not in your control. And the combination of both of them at the same time sometimes can put us in a place that we find ourselves in today.”

“So all you can do is, you know, get up, dust yourself off, and go forward. That’s really all you can do.”

The New York Islanders will be without Oliver Wahlstrom for Sunday’s contest as he is day to day with a lower-body injury. Josh Bailey, who missed Thursday’s contest with an upper-body injury, was back on the practice ice Saturday and will play against Montreal.

New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said he hopes Kieffer Bellows can build off his strong performance against Boston, which means he is also back in the lineup.

Ilya Sorokin was the first goaltender off the ice at Saturday’s practice, and with no skate Sunday morning, he looks to be the starter against the Montreal Canadiens. Despite being back on Long Island, goaltender Semyon Varlamov is still in COVID-19 protocol.

Cory Schnieder is still up with the Islanders.

The Montreal Canadiens will be without defenseman Cory Schueneman, who was placed in COVID-19 protocol on Friday. Forward Joe Armia is day to day.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS LINEUP (PROJECTED)

Lee–Barzal–Palmieri

Beauvillier–Nelson–Bellows

Parise–Pageau–Bailey

Martin–Cizikas–Clutterbuck

Pelech–Mayfield

Chara–Dobson

Aho–Pulock

Sorokin

Schneider

MONTREAL CANADIENS LINEUP (PROJECTED)

Caufield–Suzuki–Anderson

Hoiffman–Dauphin–Gallagher

Pitlick–Evans–Byron

Pezzetta–Poehling–Lehkonen

Kulak–Petry

Romanov–Chariot

Clague–Wideman

Hammond

Montembeault

GAME NOTES

Today, the New York Islanders host the Montreal Canadiens in the second of three matchups between the clubs this season.

The last time these teams met was November 4, 2021, in Montreal. Anthony Beauvillier recorded three assists to match his career-high, and Brock Nelson recorded the first four-goal game of his career to help the Islanders score a season-high six goals.

It has been nearly two years since the Islanders last played the Canadiens at home, on March 3,
2020. Today is the Islanders’ fifth matinee game of the season.

BETTING CORNER

The New York Islanders are the home favorites against the Montreal Canadiens, at -280. They are -110 on the puck line. The Montreal Canadiens come in at +230, which carries a reverse puck line of -110.

The over for this game is set at 5.5, with the over at +100 and the under at -120. These lines are subject to change.

HOW TO WATCH:

Sunday’s matinee contest will be available on MSG+ for the local viewers. On the radio dial, the game can be heard on 1050 AM ESPN, 88.7 FM WRHU and 103.9 FM LI News Radio.