New York Islanders

Islanders Game 48 Preview at Montreal Canadiens: Lines, Notes & How To Watch

Published

3 months ago

January 25, 2024

The Patrick Roy-led New York Islanders (20-16-11) hit the road for the first time and travel to their new head coach’s old stomping grounds as they visit the Montreal Canadiens (19-21-7) at Bell Centre tonight. Here’s what you need to know before puck drop.

Roy The Main Attraction In Montreal:

Patrick Roy doesn’t want to be in the spotlight tonight in Montreal. That will likely be out of his control, though, as he returns to where his Hall of Fame career began.

Patrick Roy Remains The Main Attraction In Montreal

Varlamov and Engvall Back In:

Roy announced on Wednesday that Semyon Varlamov will start in goal for the Islanders. This will be Varlamov’s first start in over three weeks after suffering a lower-body injury.

Semyon Varlamov Back In Goal For New Look Islanders

Roy also stated that Pierre Engvall will be back in the lineup tonight after missing the last handful of with an upper-body injury.

Projected Lineup:

Lee-Horvat-Barzal

Emgvall-Nelson-Palmieri

Holmstrom-Pageau-Gauthier

Martin-MacLean-Clutterbuck

Romanov-Dobson

Pelech-Aho

Bolduc-Mayfield

Varlamov

Sorokin

Last Time Out:

After the initial high of an overtime win in Roy’s Islanders coaching debut wore off, the team back down to earth a bit. Against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, the Islanders’ bad habits got in the way of some significant progress.

Roy Learns All That Glitters Is Not Gold As Islanders Fall To Vegas

The Opponent:

It’s no secret that these Montreal Canadiens are a far cry from what they were during Roy’s heyday and have been for a while.

First from the bottom in the Atlantic Division and riding a three-game losing streak, the Habs are 3-5-2 in their last 10 contests.

Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki leads the team with 39 points. His linemate Cole Caufield is their top goal scorer with 16.

Samuel Montembeault is expected to start for Montreal. In 21 starts, Montembeault has a record of 10-7-4 with a 3.11 GAA and a .903 save percentage.

Montreal owns the league’s 20th-ranked power play (18.7%) and the 28th-ranked penalty kill (73.8%)

The Islanders lost to the Canadiens 5-3 in their one previous matchup this season on Dec. 16.

For coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, follow Marc Dumont over at Montreal Hockey Now.

How To Watch:

Puck drop between the Islanders and Canadiens from Bell Centre is scheduled for just past 7 p.m. EST. The game is available to watch on MSGSN or streamed on MSG Plus or ESPN Plus for out-of-market viewers. 88.7 FM WRHU will produce the radio feed of the game, which can also be heard on 1050 AM ESPN or 103.9 FM WRCN.