New York Islanders aim to overpower Montreal Canadiens – NHL Preview
After defeating Philadelphia Flyers, the confident New York Islanders are ready to crush Montreal Canadiens in a National Hockey League (NHL) game on Thursday, February 9, 2012, at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.
In the last game, Islanders were unable to score in the regulation, but the defence did well to restrict Philadelphia.
After the goalless overtime, the game was forced to shootout where Islanders scored twice to seal the victory.
Islanders’ goalie, Evgeni Nabokov, said after the victory that:
"They were putting pressure on our [defence] all the time. Then we got short on the 'D,' but we stuck with the system. The boys were working their butts off, skating hard, and it was five 'D' for half of the game. They did a h**l of a job by containing them
and doing a good job. The forwards helped them out -- they have to collapse, so they collapsed when they had to."
Despite the victory, the Islanders still have many questions to answer.
One of them is their inability to play well on defence. On numerous occasions when victory seemed within the reach, the defence failed miserably to give the game away.
The Islanders are ranked at 11th spot in the NHL Eastern Conference with 52 points after playing 52 games.
On the other hand, Montreal is placed at 14th spot in the same conference with 51 points after 54 games.
Despite being behind Islanders in the conference ranking, Montreal has the capability to give tough time and even beat the Islanders.
Montreal is currently on a two-game winning streak after beating Winnipeg Jets (3-0) and Pittsburgh Penguins (3-2 in shootout).
Montreal has the lead by the end of the second period, but Penguins hit back hard in the second to level the things up.
However, after a long session of the shootout Montreal eventually emerged victorious.
Canadiens’ coach, Randy Cunney, said that the players were playing for their pride against Pittsburgh.
He said:
"On nights when you're playing top teams, if you're not at your best, you will be embarrassed by them. I think that's what keeps you on top of your game.”
It is difficult to pick a winner between these two sides, but if Islanders improve on defence they can win the battle.
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