The Montreal Canadiens (42-19-7) are in Long Island Saturday night to face the Islanders (43-23-4). The puck drops at 7:00 and the game can be seen on TVA and City.

Match Up

This is the third and final meeting between the Habs and Isles this season, the teams have each hosted one game already. The Canadiens already have a pair of wins against the Islanders, a 3-1 victory on the road, and a 6-4 win at home. Tomas Plekanec posted two goals and two assists to lead the charge in the 6-4 win.

What to Watch

Canadiens: Max Pacioretty posted goals 32 and 33 on the season Thurday night in Montreal’s 5-2 loss to the Senators. PK Subban, originally credited with the first goal ended up with an assist on the play, his 50th point this year ranking him third amongst defensemen.

Islanders: John Tavares is having himself another banner year with 33 goals and 72 points in 70 games this season. There’s a 28 point gap between Tavares and the second leading scorer on the Islanders, Kyle Okposo, so it’s no wonder that Tavares’ name is being tossed around the Hart Trophy conversation. In Okposo’s defense, his 44 points have come in just 48 games this season.

What’s at Stake

Forget the fact that the Habs are two points back of the league leading Ducks, forget that they’re in a three-way tie for top spot in the East, and that the Islanders can leapfrog them with a regulation victory. As important as all that is, what’s really at stake on Saturday is a chance for the Canadiens to put a stop to their recent skid that has seen them go 1-3-2 since the trade deadline, scoring just eight goals in those six games.

Who’s Out

It looks like Alexei Emelin (shoulder) is still at least one more game away from making his return, there’s no indication he’ll be playing on Saturday. Greg Pateryn has been called up from the Bulldogs and will be dressed for the match, so look for either Nathan Beaulieu or Sergei Gonchar to sit out against the Isles.

The Islanders are without Nick Leddy (upper body) and Mikhail Grabovski (concussion) heading into Saturday’s action.

What Else

The Canadiens scoring woes date back to a pair of 1-0 victories at the end of January. Including those wins the Habs have only put up 52 goals in a 22-game span, an average of 2.36 goals per game. 20 of those 52 goals came in four big victories, a 6-2 win over the Devils, 5-2 wins versus Columbus and St. Louis, and a 4-0 win over the Leafs. Without those wins to prop up the Habs offensive numbers, they dip to 32 goals in the other 18 games, or 1.77 goals per game.

The Question Mark

Alex Galchenyuk, Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher are each stuck on 19 goals this season, which of them do you expect to finish the year with 25 or more?

As always, we’ll be going over your answers on the Montreal Hockey Talk Habs Pregame Show, starting an hour before each Canadiens game on montrealhockeytalk.com.