CANADIENS
Montreal

ISLANDERS
New York

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Tatar – Danault – Gallagher
Drouin – Domi – Hudon
Lehkonen – Kotkaniemi – Armia
Deslauriers – Peca – Shaw
[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Benn – Petry
Reilly – Juulsen
Ouellet – Mete

[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders

Niemi
Price

Scratches

Scherbak, Alzner

Injuries

Weber, Schlemko, Plekanec, Byron

Game Report 

More often than not, we have been treated to a Montreal squad who has come out of the blocks strong. Not tonight. The Canadiens didn’t have much going for them in the first period.

Defensive coverage was weak and the goaltending was worse. 

Antti Niemi came into the game with a 3.24 goals against average and a .898 save percentage. Those are numbers that do not engender confidence in the Habs backup. And Niemi’s shaky performance in the first period did nothing to change any minds.

But something happened in the shootout. Niemi made three saves. Two other Islanders shooters missed the net. And fellow Finn, Joel Armia played the role of hero by scoring the game-deciding goal.

Niemi’s struggles, which started in the pre-season, have been masked by strong performances in the shootout. He has not allowed a goal while facing eight shooters, adding two shootout wins to his record. Think of Niemi as the David Desharnais of goaltenders.

Suomi was well-represented on this night as Artturi Lehkonen scored midway through the third period to tie the game facilitating the opportunity for the shootout win.

===

▲  Artturi Lehkonen, Max Domi, Joel Armia, Noah Juulsen

▼  Jeff Petry, Jordie Benn, Antti Niemi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Matthew Peca, Charles Hudon, Andrew Shaw

1. Max Domi  MTL
2. Casey Cizikas  NYI
3. Jonathan Drouin  MTL

• “I thought we had a slow start. We weren’t good and we couldn’t continue to be that way. The guys responded and we played a real solid second period and got back in the game and we found a way to tie it in the third. Not every game is going to be perfect but how you react in certain situations is important.”

Max Domi

• “Winning’s great. But, when you come back from behind like that in someone else’s arena, it’s even better.”

New York coach Barry Trotz

‘We were awful, plain and simple. The right team won tonight. That was our worst game of the year.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com