NHL Preview Roundup (Part III)
Continued from part II...
New York Islanders at Carolina (7:00 p.m. ET)
Two of the worst sides in the Eastern Conference will take on each other on Tuesday and this game may become a tight affair as both will look to emerge victorious to improve their standings.
The Carolina Hurricanes who are bottom of the Eastern Conference lost 2-1 in overtime the last time they met the Islanders as Islanders All-Star John Tavares scored twice to give the visitors the win.
The Hurricanes however, won their next game against Winnipeg Jets before the All-Star weekend break with the same score line and will now look to exact revenge as they welcome the Islanders to the RBC Center.
Carolina has an 18-24-9 record and nothing but victory will placate the fans.
New York on the other hand come on the back of two straight defeats at the hands of Toronto Maple Leafs and will look to end that streak against a Hurricanes side right there for the taking.
The Islanders are equal on points with Carolina but have played two games less than their opponent to remain 13th in the Eastern Conference.
New York will be looking to their only All-Star John Tavares to continue his mesmerising form for the franchise and help put some daylight between themselves and the bottom two sides.
Buffalo at Montreal (7:30 p.m. ET)
The Buffalo Sabres ended a losing run of five games with a 2-1 shootout victory over the New Jersey Devils to enter the All-Star weekend on a high note, but may well return back to losing as they host a Montreal Canadiens' side that is showing signs of resurgence.
The Sabres are one of the worst teams in the NHL this year with a 20-24-5 record and are equal on points with last placed Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference.
Buffalo may have ended a long losing streak but Montreal are no softies and the Canadiens will be favourites to win on Tuesday.
The Canadiens are on a two game winning streak as they dominated their last two games. Montreal first navigated past the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 3-1 win and followed it up with a 7-2 destruction of the Detroit Red Wings to enter the All-Star weekend in
thumping style.
Goaltender Carey Price was ecstatic at the big win but hoped that they can follow it up with more on the return to NHL action after the break.
"It's definitely nice to go into the break on a high note and maybe dwell on it for a couple of days because we haven't a whole lot of good to dwell on this year, I think we can sit on that for a little while, but when we come back, we know that we've got
to get back to work."
Montreal are the favourites and barring a miracle for the struggling Sabres, it will be a comfortable night for the 24-time Stanley Cup winners.
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