The Montreal Canadiens are coming to Long Island tonight to take on the Islanders. On the fringes of this gathering, the hosting team will pay tribute to legend Mike Bossy at the UBS Arena.
• Also read: The pre-match under the magnifying glass
• Also read: Joshua Roy the Quebecer who almost escaped the CH
Our late colleague, who died April 15 after a battle with lung cancer, played 10 seasons with the Islands.
One of the most popular athletes of his generation, No. 22 won the Stanley Cup four years in a row with the organization during the franchise dynasty and set several records that stand.
The Bossy family and Lung Cancer Canada will be creating the Mike Bossy Memorial Fund to mark the occasion. This initiative aims to increase support, “awareness and education in French for lung cancer screening in Quebec”.
#islands According to legend, Mike Bossy’s bobble head was designed with the help of his family to represent exactly who he was.
This Saturday, be one of the first 10,000 fans to get your very own Bossy Bobblehead courtesy of @Hyundai.
— New York Islanders (@NY Islanders) January 12, 2023
The islanders raise funds with the 50/50 raffle and donate all proceeds to the fund.
The CH goes there for 2
Building on Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators, CH will be looking to win a third game in four games. Before falling into the tentacles of the Seattle Kraken on Monday, Martin St. Louis’ men had frustrated the St. Louis Blues at Bell Center.
In the last five games, Jonathan Drouin has been his team’s most productive with five points, including two for the massive attack. Cole Caufield is hot as a stove with four goals in this span.
Jake Evans, coming out of his shell offensively these days, has also had four points since Jan. 3.
win along the way
On the road, the Habs’ last win dates back to December 19 in Arizona. Almost a month later, they’re crossing blades with a team trying to get back on track after a four-game (0-3-1) winning streak.
This 175th meeting between the two clubs marks the first of three meetings this season. In the three games between them in 2021-2022, the islanders have accumulated at least one point every night (2-0-1).
In the last direct duel on April 15, Brock Nelson, Noah Dobson and Zach Parise scored in a 3-0 win in Montreal.
The Isles have faced teams from the Atlantic Division only four times in the last two months, but each time they collected at least one point (3-0-1) and beat their four opponents (Ottawa, Toronto, Boston, Florida) 15-9 goals .
A first for Romanov
This will be defender Alexander Romanov’s first game against his former side. Selected by the Canadian in the second round (38th overall) in the 2018 draft, the Muscovite was traded to Long Island on the night of the amateur auction at the Bell Center in the three-club transaction that brought Kirby Dach with the Bleu-White Red.
Romanov set a career high against Minnesota on Thursday, scoring his 14th point of the season. The 23-year-old has blacked out the scorers list in four of the Islanders’ last six wins.
The Russian played 133 games and accumulated 19 points (four goals, 15 assists) in two seasons with Montreal. He was a member of the Canadiens team that reached the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals.
MacKinnon and McDavid on TVA Sports 2 in a doubleheader
At the same time, we present the duel between the Ottawa Senators and the Avalanche live from Colorado on TVA Sports 2.
Les Sens (19-19-3) is only ahead of CH in the Atlantic ranking and is looking up. They’ve just picked up at least a point in six of their last 10 games.
The Avalanche (20-17-3) desperately needs to win. With 43 points overall, Jared Bednar’s side sit sixth in the Central Division, seven points behind third. The Denver team has won just three of their last ten games.
After this meeting, Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers will be in action against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Oilers (23-18-3) are targeting a third straight win for the occasion.
The Golden Knights (28-13-2) lead the Pacific Division with 58 points, two points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings with two games in hand.
Like Vegas, Edmonton has been playing better on the home rinks than at home this season, as evidenced by their 13-7-1 record.