Montreal Canadiens at New York Islanders [Game 65]

			-AT-
			7:00 P.M. E.S.T.
Radio	Network		Arena		Network	Radio
690 AM CKGM	RDS		Barclays Center		MSG	88.7 FM WRHU
League	Value		Metric		Value	League
26th	46.0%		Points Percentage		50.8%	22nd
8th	19.15%		Net Power Play Percentage		16.24%	20th
25th	80.30%		Net Penalty Kill Percentage		77.05%	30th
17th	99.45%		Combined Special Teams Percentage		93.29%	26th
29th	2.54		Goals for per Game (All Situations)		3.25	8th
23rd	3.10		Goals against per Game (All Situations)		3.56	31st
22nd	-.16		Penalty +/- per Game (All Situations)		.22	9th
15th	50.42%		Shot Attempt Percentage (5V5 Score Adjusted)		47.21%	26th
8th	51.75%		Scoring Chance Percentage (5V5 Score Adjusted)		45.37%	30th
28th	98.38%		P.D.O. (5V5)		100.88%	9th
31st	6.07%		Shooting Percentage (5V5)		9.12%	4th
16th	92.31%		Save Percentage (5V5)		91.76%	26th
Data from Hockey-Reference.com and Natural Stat Trick
The Enemies' Lair
Eyes On The Prize

The New York Islanders and Montreal Canadiens will square off for the second time in three days, this time at Barclays Center. The Islanders played well enough that they should have won the last game garnering the majority of the shot attempts, but had trouble getting pucks on Antti Niemi as the Canadiens carried the shot differential advantage after score adjustments by a minor margin (Jaroslav Halak could have played better as well). The Islanders ultimately fell to the Canadiens by a score of three-to-one which put their season even further on the brink.

The Islanders enter this one with just a 6.3 percent chance of making the playoffs according to moneypuck.com. They desperately need to win this game if they wish to compete for the Stanley Cup come April. They'll need help - they currently sit at 11th in points percentage and two of the teams that are ahead of them - the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes - are projected to win their respective matchups tonight.

In an attempt to balance the lines a bit more, Doug Weight has moved Josh Bailey down to the third line and Tanner Fritz up to the first. In addition to that, Casey Cizikas is out of tonight's game as he is expecting a child any moment now. He'll be replaced by Ross Johnston on the fourth line while Chris Wagner moves over to centre. Kudos to Cizikas not only for the child, but also making the decision to take family over sport in a league where that decision can often be scorned by the media and public.

No changes will be made to the defense. Jaroslav Halak gets the nod again tonight. The Canadiens will change it up and start top goaltending prospect Charlie Lindgren while Niemi heads to the bench.

Tonight's game will be on MSG. Puck drop is at 7:05 P.M. E.S.T. The last time there was a crazy snow system against the Canadiens resulted in the former-and-soon-to-be-new home of the Islanders sounding like a home game for Montreal. Hopefully that isn't the case tonight.

UPDATE 6:29 P.M. EST: Jordan Eberle can't go tonight either - Thomas Hickey is in at forward.

Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup

New York Islanders Projected Lineup