• Travis Hamonic has recently opened up about his trade request: “The root of all this is a personal family matter of mine that I hold dear to my heart, 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 Canadiens won all three games versus the Islanders in the 2014-15 season by a combined score of 12-6. The only game between these two teams this season ended in a 4-1 Montreal win.
• Montreal has gone down 3-0 to their opponent in each of the last thee games, only managing to come back and win in one of them.
• Montreal has allowed 10 goals in the first period over the last five games.
• The Islanders have scored a powerplay goal in six of their last seven games.
• The Canadiens place eighth in the league in goals against with 45 in 20 games. The Islanders’ defense have allowed just one fewer goal than the Canadiens, bringing them up to seventh in the NHL.
• The Canadiens place second in the NHL in the goals for category with 69 over their first 20 games. The Islanders are also in the top 10, as they currently have 54 goals scored over their first 19 games in the 2015-16 season.

2015-16 statistics

• Brock Nelson has gotten very hot of late, as he currently has a four game point streak, potting 6 points over that span. It’s even more encouraging to see a young forward’s, such as Nelson, ice time continue to remain high. He has only dipped below 16 minutes once in the last 6 games and that was for 15:58 minutes of TOI. Staying near his career average shots per game (2.08 over his career and 2.00 so far this season), it is very unlikely that this drops. His shooting percentage is bound to normalize, but any player who has the opportunity to play with the immensely skilled John Tavares is worth a roster spot in most leagues. Nelson does modestly contribute in both the Hits and Blocked Shots categories also, as he currently has 17 and 13 respectively.
• Fan favorite, Brendan Gallagher, has also been a fantasy monster over the past two weeks. Currently on a six game point streak (with 8 points over that span), he has pulled into a tie with Tomas Plekanec for second on the team in points (only a single point behind captain Max Pacioretty). Gallagher has also managed to fire 17 shots on net over the past 4 games, bringing his season total to 63 hots over his first 20 games. Gallagher is also a +9 and has 17 hits so far this season, showing his versatility in terms of fantasy categories. He is a must start in all fantasy hockey leagues.
• Top scorers for the Islanders at home this season are:

1. Kyle Okposo and John Tavares (with 12 points in 11 and 9 games repectively).
2. Frans Nielsen (9 points in 11 games)
3. Johnny Boychuk and Brock Nelson (both with 7 points in 11 games)

• Top scorers for the Canadiens on the road this season are:

1. Andrei Markov (11 points in 9 games)
2. P. K. Subban  (10 points in 9 games)
3. Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec (both with 9 points in 9 games)

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