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Habs vs Islanders game preview, Julien's 1000th NHL game as head coach |
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The Montreal Canadiens will attempt to win a second game in a row for the first time since early January as they host the New York Islanders Thursday night at the Bell Centre. In their previous meeting just before the All-Star break, the Canadiens except for Carey Price decided to check out early as they gave very little effort in a 3-1 to the Islanders who were very hot since they had made their coaching change. Tonight, the Canadiens will attempt to avenge that loss and also earn their new coach Claude Julien a victory in his 1,000th NHL game as a head coach.
After a well-deserved day off following five intense days of practices and games with Julien behind the bench, the Canadiens got back to work this morning by starting practice with the powerplay. The new units are:
The idea to give Alex Galchenyuk first line powerplay minutes is quite solid as he will have more time and space to use his skills. Combined with Alexander Radulov, the duo should be able to rediscover their earlier success when they formed one of the hottest lines in the NHL. Phillip Danault finds himself centering Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher on the second unit as Tomas Plekanec was not able to take advantage of the early opportunities that Julien and Kirk Muller gave him.
The Canadiens lines remain unchanged from their 3-2 shootout victory over the New York Rangers:
At the moment the Islanders occupy the second wild card spot with 66 points but they will be in a dogfight to keep that position as the standing are quite crowded with the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers on their heels with 66 points as well. Not to mention the group of teams just below that which include the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils that are all within six points of that last playoff spot. The Islanders have won two games in a row and are 6-3-1 in their last ten games. They are supposedly also in the mix for Matt Duchene and so trade rumors continue to swirl around them, just like the Canadiens. For tonight’s game, their lineup will be:
The return of five questions for tonight’s game:
1) Will Claude Julien get a victory in his 1,000 NHL game as head coach?
I say yes, the Canadiens are due to win two games in a row.
2) How will Alex Galchenyuk fare on the top unit of the Canadiens powerplay? Is it the spark to get him going again?
I certainly hope so...
3) Are Julien’s lines and defense pairing going to stay the same all game?
If the Canadiens are winning then yes they will stay the same.
4) Andrew Shaw broke his goal scoring drought in the Rangers game. Which Canadiens player will break theirs tonight?
I’m going to go with Paul Byron.
5) What will be the final score?
4-2 Canadiens.
Puck drops at 7:30pm
Cheers & enjoy the game!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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