ISLANDERS AT CANADIENS
Bell Centre, Thursday, 7:30 p.m., CITY Montreal, RDS, TSN Radio 690
The matchup: The Canadiens’ offensive juggernaut stalled for only the second time this season Tuesday when Craig Anderson and the Ottawa Senators stole a 2-1 overtime decision. The Canadiens are still comfortably atop the Atlantic Division with an 11-2-1 record, but they have lost three of their past five games. The Islanders are 7-3-3 and stand second in the Metropolitan Division, one point behind the Rangers.
Top line missing in action: Max Pacioretty and Dale Weise share the team lead in goals with seven, but Pacioretty has gone five games without a point. The rest of the top line has been only slightly more productive during that span with Brendan Gallagher scoring one goal and Tomas Plekanec adding two assists. The good news is that the third and fourth lines have picked up the slack.
The Halak factor: You won’t find too many people who believe the Canadiens made a mistake when they decided to trade Jaroslav Halak and keep Carey Price, who was the NHL’s top goaltender and most valuable player last season. But Halak has had success since leaving Montreal. He had a late start to this season because of an upper-body injury and a bout of the flu, and arrives in Montreal with a 4-1-1 record, 1.65 goals-against average, .936 save percentage and two shutouts. More importantly, Halak has made a mission of trying to convince the Canadiens they made a mistake. He is 4-1 against his former team with a 2.01 GAA and one shutout.
The Condon factor: Mike Condon suffered his first loss in the NHL Tuesday, but he has collected points in each of his five starts (4-0-1). The rookie leads the NHL with a 1.60 goals-against average and has a .941 save percentage.
Injury update: Carey Price has missed the past two games and will be on the injured reserve list at least until the weekend with a lower-body injury. Islanders sniper John Tavares has missed the past three games with flu-like symptoms, but he has rejoined the team for practice and is hoping to face the Canadiens. Long-term casualties for the Islanders are Eric Boulton and Thomas Hickey. They are out with lower-body injuries.
Coming attractions: The Canadiens close out their four-game homestand Saturday when they face the rival Boston Bruins (7 p.m., CBC, TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690. They have a light schedule next week with a trip to Pittsburgh Wednesday followed by a home game Saturday against Colorado.
phickey@montrealgazette.com
Twitter.com/zababes1
