Music: {allcanada} ISLANDERS (7-3-3) at CANADIENS (11-2-1)

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

{allcanada} ISLANDERS (7-3-3) at CANADIENS (11-2-1)

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ISLANDERS (7-3-3) at CANADIENS (11-2-1)

TV: MSG+, RDS, CITYM

Thursday, November 5, 2015

7:30 PM ET

Season series: The Montreal Canadiens swept the New York Islanders last season, winning three games, including a 6-4 victory at Bell Centre on Jan. 17. Center Tomas Plekanec had three goals and two assists for Montreal, which outscored New York 12-6. Defenseman Andrei Markov had a goal and three assists, and center David Desharnais had two goals and an assist. Islanders right wing Kyle Okposo had two goals and an assist, and forwards John Tavares and Josh Bailey each had a goal and two assists.

Islanders team scope: All eyes are on Tavares and whether he will be ready to return against Montreal after missing the past three games because of flu-like symptoms. Tavares, who leads New York with 11 points (five goals and six assists) in 10 games, fully participated at practice Wednesday. He told Newsday that he didn't leave his room all weekend and only started to feel better on Monday. "Sometimes you get hit hard by it," Tavares said. "I felt pretty good on the ice [Wednesday]. I'm certainly close to where I was."

Canadiens team scope: Montreal's effort in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday was good enough for coach Michel Therrien to keep his lines intact at practice Wednesday. That means forward Alexander Semin will be a healthy scratch for a fifth consecutive game against the Islanders. "When he gets his opportunity, it will be up to him to grab it," Therrien said. "I have no reason to take anyone out of the lineup, so it goes by your performance, it goes by how responsible a player is when he's on the ice. That's how we make our decisions, and right now we find that the lineup we are using is very responsible, they're engaged and they have a really good work ethic, so it's hard to make changes at a time like this." With goalie Carey Price sideline for a week because of a lower-body injury, rookie goalie Mike Condon will likely make his fourth straight start against New York.

Team Stats