Montreal @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 3, 2019 ) NY Islanders 2, Montreal 4

A lack of a consistent offense has plagued the New York Islanders, who have been shut out three times during a demoralizing 2-5-2 stretch. The Islanders look to snap a three-game winless skid (0-1-2) against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday when they play their penultimate contest at Barclays Center.

New York, which is clinging to the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, saw its seven-game home point streak (5-0-2) come to a halt on Saturday after it failed to convert on any of its six power-play opportunities in a 4-0 setback to Boston. "Power play can change the game," captain Anders Lee said. "Just like how our penalty kill gave us an opportunity on that five-on-three. We had some huge blocks by our guys and followed it up with some decent efforts on the power play and some power plays that we had absolutely nothing." Like the Islanders, Montreal also dropped seven of nine contests before salvaging the finale of a three-game homestand with a 4-3 overtime victory over Carolina on Saturday. Defenseman Jeff Petry scored on a breakaway 52 seconds into the extra session of that contest and also tallied in the Canadiens' 4-2 win over New York On Dec. 3.

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: MSG-Plus, TSN2, RDS

ABOUT THE CANADIENS (30-28-9): Tomas Tatar set a career high for points after the first of his three assists on Saturday eclipsed his previous best total of 58, set in 80 games last season. The 39 assists are also a personal best for the 29-year-old, who carries a three-game point streak (one goal, five assists) into Tuesday's tilt. Tatar's team-leading 22 goals are one more than Brendan Gallagher, who scored and set up a goal on Saturday and did the same in the previous encounter with New York.

ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (35-21-8): Mathew Barzal, who scored in the previous game against Montreal, set up eight goals during a five-game assist streak before seeing his team shut out for the fifth time this season. While New York obviously didn't score in that contest, it did receive a boost in terms of grittiness as Cal Clutterbuck competed for the first time since sustaining a wrist laceration on Dec. 19. "We need more of that in our game," coach Barry Trotz said. "We got a little bit light with the group that we had. We lost a little bit of our identity."

OVERTIME

1. Montreal G Carey Price, who has started 17 of his team's last 19 games overall, sports a 13-6-4 record in 23 career starts against New York.

2. The Islanders have mustered just 11 goals in their last six encounters (1-4-1) with the Canadiens.

3. Montreal C Max Domi carries a five-game point streak (four goals, three assists) into Tuesday's contest.

PREDICTION: Islanders 3, Canadiens 2