Early look The full preview opens on Thursday 1 April, three days before puck drop, with the expected goalies, the latest team news and game-day prices. Until then this page shows the matchup as it stands.
Early look · NHL 2026-27

Montréal Canadiens at New York Islanders: game preview

Puck drop4 Apr · 7:30 PM ET
VenueUBS Arena
All-time meetings212 completed
BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26
The thesis

Fifteen points apart last season

Montréal finished last season 6th in the league on 106 points. NY Islanders finished 19th on 91.

Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.

Head-to-head

Meeting number 213

Across 212 completed games, Montréal lead the head-to-head 123-71-18.

All-time record123-71-18Montréal's record in the series
Meetings played212This is number 213
2025-26 series—
Last 53-2Montréal
DateResultShotsPower playWinner
12 Apr 2026MTL 4 – NYI 1——MTL
21 Mar 2026NYI 3 – MTL 7——MTL
26 Feb 2026NYI 4 – MTL 3 OT——NYI
20 Mar 2025MTL 3 – NYI 4 OT——NYI
3 Dec 2024NYI 1 – MTL 2 OT——MTL
Head-to-head finder

The table on each 2025-26 meeting night

DateMontréalNY Islanders
26 Feb 202628-17-7 · 63 pts9th28-19-5 · 61 pts13th
21 Mar 202638-21-10 · 86 pts8th39-26-5 · 83 pts12th
12 Apr 202648-23-10 · 106 pts5th43-33-5 · 91 pts16th

League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 26 Feb 2026, Montréal were 9th in the league and NY Islanders 13th. By 12 Apr 2026 it was 5th and 16th.


Where the shots come from · last 5 meetings

NY Islanders out-attempted Montréal 179 to 172

Every attempt from the last meetings, both teams shooting right.

Montréal Canadiens

172 att · 83 on goal · 14 G · 16.9%
Crease17 att · 2 G
Slot59 att · 7 G
Wing68 att · 3 G
Point24 att · 2 G
Neutral zone4 att · 0 G

New York Islanders

179 att · 81 on goal · 8 G · 9.9%
Crease14 att · 2 G
Slot69 att · 3 G
Wing68 att · 2 G
Point24 att · 1 G
Neutral zone4 att · 0 G
GoalOn goalMissedBlocked

Expected goals

Montréal and NY Islanders are level on chances, last 10 games

Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.

MontréalNY Islanders
2.61xG for per game2.90
3.61xG against per game3.70
42.0%xG share44.0%
+4.2FinishingGoals minus expected goals+0.3
−3.2GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed+4.1

This season: 3 games for Montréal, 3 for NY Islanders. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.

Every team’s xG →


Special teams

Power play and penalty kill, season and series

This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.

All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings

Montréal

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2710.0%
Power play · 2025-2623.1% · 10th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2775.0%
Penalty kill · 2025-2678.2% · 18th
Faceoffs · 2026-2753.9% · 96/178
Drawn · 2026-2710 (3.33/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2712 (4.00/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

NY Islanders

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2718.2%
Power play · 2025-2616.5% · 30th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2783.3%
Penalty kill · 2025-2680.8% · 10th
Faceoffs · 2026-2749.1% · 81/165
Drawn · 2026-2711 (3.67/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2712 (4.00/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Skaters

Skaters to watch

Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.

PlayerGPGAPP/GP
14Nick Suzuki32462.00
22Chris Kreider31341.33
76Zachary Bolduc33031.00
10Brayden Schenn31341.33
14Bo Horvat32131.00
53Casey Cizikas31120.67
Points leaders
PlayerGPGAPP/GP
48Lane Hutson30441.33
8Mike Matheson30110.33
8Logan Stanley30220.67
3Adam Pelech30110.33
Defencemen stats

Goaltending

Who has stopped this matchup

Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.

Expected startersAn estimate until the teams confirmEvery game tonight →

Expected starter after their game on 1 Apr: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Expected starter after their game on 2 Apr: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Montréal crease

MTL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 1 Apr

Jakub Dobes.8573 GP · 1-1-1 · GSAx −3.0

No appearances against NY Islanders in the last meetings.

NY Islanders crease

NYI · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 1 Apr

Ilya Sorokin.9682 GP · 1-1-0 · GSAx +4.1
Semyon Varlamov.8641 GP · 0-1-0 · GSAx +0.4

No appearances against Montréal in the last meetings.


Totals

Scoring rates point to about 6.3 goals

No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.

Goals in the last 5 meetings

12 Apr 20265 · MTL 4–1 NYI
21 Mar 202610 · NYI 3–7 MTL
26 Feb 20267 · NYI 4–3 MTL
20 Mar 20257 · MTL 3–4 NYI
3 Dec 20243 · NYI 1–2 MTL

Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.

Scoring rates

Team26-27 GF26-27 GA25-26 GF25-26 GA
Montréal4.004.673.453.12
NY Islanders3.002.332.842.94

Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.

Scoring rates suggest6.3Goals in this game
Last 5 meetings6.4Goals per game
Line—No total posted yet
Books at the line—With the game-day prices

Team news

7 on the injury lists

Montréal · injuries

Bryce PickfordUndisclosedIRReturn17 Oct
Ivan DemidovLower BodyIRReturn31 Oct
Kaiden GuhleGroinIRReturn20 Oct
Lucas CondottaUndisclosedIRReturn10 Oct
Oliver KapanenLower BodyOutReturn8 Oct

NY Islanders · injuries

Alexander RomanovUndisclosedDay-to-dayReturn8 Oct
Mathew BarzalKneeIRReturn10 Oct
27 Sep · MTL

Placed D Reilly Walsh, D Maksymilian Szuber, D Ethan Samson, C Sam Poulin, RW Sasha Pastujov, C Hunter McKown, G Kaapo Kähkönen, LW Brett Berard, and RW Alex Belzile on waivers for the purpose of loaning them to Laval (AHL).

12 Sep · MTL

Signed F Chris Kreider to a one-year contract.

9 Aug 2026 · MTL

Loaned F Vinzenz Rohrer to EV Zug (Switzerland).

27 Sep · NYI

Agreed to terms with LD Logan Stanley on a 1-Year contract worth $1.5M. Placed G Vitek Vanecek on waivers with the intention of sending to Hamilton (AHL)

26 Sep · NYI

Waived Fs Tanner Fritz, Matt Luff and Nathan Chaffee. Waived Fs Dylan Foudy and Hudson Kuefler for the purpose of sending to Hamilton (AHL).

24 Jul 2026 · NYI

Signed F Alex Jefferies to a one-year contract.

Injury report
#26Gleb PugachyovRound 1 · Nizhny Novgorod Jr.RW
#57Timofei RuntsoRound 2 · VictoriaD
#93Cooper CleavesRound 3 · DartmouthD
#117Brayden KlimpkeRound 4 · SaskatoonD
Full draft

NY Islanders · 2026 draft

See all: NY Islanders · 2026 draft →
#13Malte GustafssonRound 1 · Hv71D
#109Lincoln KuehneRound 4 · Arizona StateD
#141Vladimir DraveckyRound 5 · BrantfordD
#173Artyom MatyukRound 6 · Nizhny Novgorod Jr.C
Full draft

Updated after every final