The New York Islanders are in Montreal to face the Canadiens tonight. Here’s the pre-game report.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Islanders defeated the Canadiens 2-1 in the last meeting between the two teams that took place one week ago in New York. Before last game, Montreal had won the last three matchups.
The Islanders have been very good on the road this season, with a 20-12-3 record to show for. The Canadiens have a near identical home record of 20-12-4 this year..
Both teams have been average in their last ten games, with each at 5-5-0.
PLAYERS TO WATCH Below we look at notable players that have recently performed well or underperformed.
HOT STREAK MTL: Brendan Gallagher has 17 points in his last 20 games. MTL: Andrew Shaw has 14 points in his last 18 games.
COLD STREAK MTL: Phillip Danault has one point in his last six games. MTL: Jonathan Drouin is pointless in his last nine games and has points in just one of his last 17 games. MTL: Jesperi Kotkaniemi has no points in his last six games. MTL: Jeff Petry has no points in his last nine games. NYI: Josh Bailey has no points in his last seven games. NYI: Anthony Beauvillier has two points in his last 10 games. NYI: Jordan Eberle has one point in his last 10 games. NYI: Thomas Hickey has one point in his last 20 games. NYI: Andrew Ladd has four points in his last 15 games. NYI: Ryan Pulock has two points in his last 10 games.
GOALIE MATCHUP MTL: Carey Price has a career 11-6-4 record vs NYI and a .911 save percentage. NYI: Thomas Greiss has a 4-3-1 career record vs MTL and a .934 save percentage.
PERFORMANCE VS OPPONENT Below, we look at how each player has historically performed vs the opponent.
*Note: I realize PPG isn’t an accurate measure for defenders, but without getting into point shares/deeper defensive stats, analysis for defense will be based on their offensive history.*
NYI INDIVIDUAL vs MTL
OVERPERFORMERS Thomas Greiss= .934 SV%, Career= .915 SV% Thomas Hickey= 0.50 PPG (16 GP, 8 Points), Career= 0.26 PPG
NO DIFFERENCE Josh Bailey= 0.50 PPG (34 GP, 17 Points), Career= 0.54 PPG Matt Barzal= 0.83 PPG (6 GP, 5 Points), Career= 0.91 PPG Anthony Beauvillier= 0.50 PPG (8 GP, 4 Points) , Career= 0.40 PPG Leo Komarov= 0.38 PPG (21 GP, 8 Points), Career= 0.36 PPG Tom Kuhnhackl= 0.00 PPG (5 GP, 0 Points), Career= 0.24 PPG Matt Martin= 0.22 PPG (27 GP, 6 Points), Career= 0.19 PPG Brock Nelson= 0.53 PPG (17 GP, 9 Points), Career= 0.50 PPG Adam Pelech= 0.43 PPG (7 GP, 3 Points), Career= 0.24 PPG Devon Toews= 0.00 PPG (1 GP, 0 Points), Career= 0.38 PPG
UNDERPERFORMERS Casey Cizikas= 0.18 PPG (17 GP, 3 Points), Career= 0.32 PPG Cal Clutterbuck= 0.11 PPG (18 GP, 2 Points), Career= 0.29 PPG Jordan Eberle= 0.47 PPG (15 GP, 7 Points), Career= 0.71 PPG Andrew Ladd= 0.35 PPG (34 GP, 12 Points), Career= 0.57 PPG Nick Leddy= 0.24 PPG (17 GP, 4 Points), Career= 0.44 PPG Anders Lee= 0.40 PPG (15 GP, 6 Points), Career= 0.61 PPG Scott Mayfield= 0.00 PPG (6 GP, 0 Points), Career= 0.26 PPG Ryan Pulock= 0.00 PPG (5 GP, 0 Points), Career= 0.44 PPG
MTL INDIVIDUAL VS NYI
OVERPERFORMERS Jonathan Drouin= 0.88 PPG (8 GP, 7 Points), Career= 0.61 PPG Brendan Gallagher= 0.72 PPG (18 GP, 13 Points), Career= 0.60 PPG Tomas Tatar= 0.76 PPG (17 GP, 13 Points), Career= 0.56 PPG
NO DIFFERENCE Joel Armia= 0.43 PPG (7 GP, 3 Points), Career= 0.33 PPG Jordie Benn= 0.10 PPG (10 GP, 1 Point), Career= 0.23 PPG Paul Byron= 0.47 PPG (15 GP, 7 Points), Career= 0.42 PPG Christian Folin= 0.29 PPG (7 GP, 2 Points), Career= 0.19 PPG Jesperi Kotkaniemi= 0.50 PPG (2 GP, 1 point), Career= 0.45 PPG Brett Kulak= 0.33 PPG (3 GP, 1 Point), Career= 0.15 PPG Artturi Lehkonen= 0.25 PPG (8 GP, 2 Points), Career= 0.35 PPG Victor Mete= 0.00 PPG (5 GP, 0 Points), Career= 0.16 PPG Jeff Petry= 0.33 PPG (18 GP, 6 Points), Career= 0.35 PPG Nate Thompson= 0.24 PPG (21 GP, 5 Points), Career= 0.20 PPG Jordan Weal= 0.29 PPG (7 GP, 2 Points), Career= 0.29 PPG
UNDERPERFORMERS Phillip Danault= 0.14 PPG (7 GP, 1 Point), Career= 0.47 PPG Max Domi- 0.43 PPG (7 GP, 3 Points), Career= 0.67 PPG Carey Price= .911 SV%, Career= .918 SV% Andrew Shaw= 0.15 PPG (13 GP, 2 points), Career= 0.45 PPG Shea Weber= 0.40 PPG (15 GP, 6 Points), Career= 0.58 PPG
General Summary
The Islanders won their last game against Montreal, but the Canadiens beat the Islanders in their last three meetings before that. No Advantage.
The Islanders’ road record and the Canadiens’ home record are nearly identical. No advantage.
Gallagher and Shaw are both on hot streaks while the Islanders don’t have anyone on a significant hot streak. Advantage MTL.
Greiss has been better than Price this season and has historically been better vs MTL than Price has been vs NYI. Advantage NYI.
Drouin, Gallagher and Tatar, three of Montreal’s top four scorers have historically overperformed vs NYI. Only NYI overperforming skater vs MTL is Thomas Hickey. Advantage MTL.
Puck drop is at 7:30 pm.