northernlou
Idi Admin
Preview: Montreal at NY Islanders
7:30 PM ET, Friday, November 20, 2015
Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
New York defenseman Travis Hamonic's skills will be on display for all the teams in Western Canada to see when the Islanders host the Montreal Canadiens on Friday. Hamonic requested a trade prior to the season — citing personal reasons — and expressed interest in going to Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg or Vancouver, putting New York general manager Garth Snow in a tough spot, although there's a lot to like about the 25-year-old Winnipeg native and his friendly contract.
“The root of all this is a personal family matter of mine that I hold dear to my heart,” Hamonic told reporters after previously addressing his teammates. “It has nothing to do with the organization or how I’ve been treated here for six years of playing and another two or three since I was drafted. I’ve honestly been treated like gold from the start.” The Islanders have won two straight games by a combined 9-3 after their 5-2 victory over Arizona on Monday as captain John Tavares scored for the second time in three games and matched a season high with three points. Montreal lost to Arizona 3-2 on Thursday — its third loss in four games (1-2-1) as life without goaltender Carey Price (lower-body injury) is becoming more difficult. The Canadiens defeated New York 4-1 on Nov. 5 after winning all three meetings last season and put their four-game winning streak as the visitor in the series on the line as they make their first trip to the Islanders' new home — the Barclays Center.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, SNET, RDS (Montreal), MSG Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (14-4-2): Dustin Tokarski is expected to make his first start of the season in goal Friday after Mike Condon fell to 5-2-2 while replacing Price, the reigning winner of the Hart and Vezina trophies who returned to practice Wednesday but doesn't appear quite ready to return. Captain Max Pacioretty has scored in two straight games and leads Montreal with 10 goals. Defenseman Alexei Emelin (lower-body injury) has missed the last three games and isn't expected to play until Wednesday at the earliest, meaning he will also miss Sunday's rematch against the Islanders in Montreal.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (10-6-3): Hamonic hasn't allowed his situation to be a distraction as he leads New York in ice time at 23:20 per game and has a plus-5 rating while contributing three assists in 19 games, but the $27 million, seven-year contract he signed in 2013 could be even more appealing to a potential suitor. Tavares has a team-leading nine goals and 17 points while Kyle Okposo, whose contract is up at the end of the season and could be traded or allowed to walk, has a team-best 12 assists. Brock Nelson, who centers a line with Tavares and Okposo, has scored in three straight games and has six points in his last four contests.
OVERTIME
1. Islanders C Mikhail Grabovski (three goals, eight points), who has not played more than 58 games in a season since 2011-12, left Monday's contest with an upper-body injury after being sandwiched between two Coyotes and is questionable to play Friday.
2. Montreal has trailed 1-0 in its last five games but is 2-2-1 during that span.
3. New York yielded one power-play goal in three straight games and six of the last seven while going 2-for-25 with the man-advantage during that span.
Trends
Canadiens are 4-0 in their last 4 games playing on 0 days rest.
Canadiens are 4-0 in the last 4 meetings in New York.
http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nhl/matchups/g2_preview_13.html
7:30 PM ET, Friday, November 20, 2015
Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
New York defenseman Travis Hamonic's skills will be on display for all the teams in Western Canada to see when the Islanders host the Montreal Canadiens on Friday. Hamonic requested a trade prior to the season — citing personal reasons — and expressed interest in going to Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg or Vancouver, putting New York general manager Garth Snow in a tough spot, although there's a lot to like about the 25-year-old Winnipeg native and his friendly contract.
“The root of all this is a personal family matter of mine that I hold dear to my heart,” Hamonic told reporters after previously addressing his teammates. “It has nothing to do with the organization or how I’ve been treated here for six years of playing and another two or three since I was drafted. I’ve honestly been treated like gold from the start.” The Islanders have won two straight games by a combined 9-3 after their 5-2 victory over Arizona on Monday as captain John Tavares scored for the second time in three games and matched a season high with three points. Montreal lost to Arizona 3-2 on Thursday — its third loss in four games (1-2-1) as life without goaltender Carey Price (lower-body injury) is becoming more difficult. The Canadiens defeated New York 4-1 on Nov. 5 after winning all three meetings last season and put their four-game winning streak as the visitor in the series on the line as they make their first trip to the Islanders' new home — the Barclays Center.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, SNET, RDS (Montreal), MSG Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (14-4-2): Dustin Tokarski is expected to make his first start of the season in goal Friday after Mike Condon fell to 5-2-2 while replacing Price, the reigning winner of the Hart and Vezina trophies who returned to practice Wednesday but doesn't appear quite ready to return. Captain Max Pacioretty has scored in two straight games and leads Montreal with 10 goals. Defenseman Alexei Emelin (lower-body injury) has missed the last three games and isn't expected to play until Wednesday at the earliest, meaning he will also miss Sunday's rematch against the Islanders in Montreal.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (10-6-3): Hamonic hasn't allowed his situation to be a distraction as he leads New York in ice time at 23:20 per game and has a plus-5 rating while contributing three assists in 19 games, but the $27 million, seven-year contract he signed in 2013 could be even more appealing to a potential suitor. Tavares has a team-leading nine goals and 17 points while Kyle Okposo, whose contract is up at the end of the season and could be traded or allowed to walk, has a team-best 12 assists. Brock Nelson, who centers a line with Tavares and Okposo, has scored in three straight games and has six points in his last four contests.
OVERTIME
1. Islanders C Mikhail Grabovski (three goals, eight points), who has not played more than 58 games in a season since 2011-12, left Monday's contest with an upper-body injury after being sandwiched between two Coyotes and is questionable to play Friday.
2. Montreal has trailed 1-0 in its last five games but is 2-2-1 during that span.
3. New York yielded one power-play goal in three straight games and six of the last seven while going 2-for-25 with the man-advantage during that span.
Trends
Canadiens are 4-0 in their last 4 games playing on 0 days rest.
Canadiens are 4-0 in the last 4 meetings in New York.
http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nhl/matchups/g2_preview_13.html
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