The Habs' last game at the second-oldest barn in the League dates back exactly four years to the day, with Montreal beating the Islanders 3-1. Brendan Gallagher, Carey Price, Jeff Petry, and Dale Weise are the only four players from the current Canadiens roster to have played in that game on March 14, 2015.
The players are amped up for the contest against Barry Trotz's troops.
"It'll be the first game in this arena for a lot of players tonight. It's exciting," mentioned Phillip Danault. "It's always a good game against the Islanders and it'll be even more so because of the playoff race."
According to the Habs' bench boss, there are a lot of similarities between his team and the Islanders.
"They need contributions from every player to win. It's not a team with a superstar. But their two goalies are playing good hockey. They're much better defensively. That's allowed them to have some success," outlined Claude Julien. "At the end of the day, we have two teams who are very similar and who need to see all their players show up ever game in order to win."
The game against the Islanders holds particular significance given that with a win, the Canadiens could find themselves back in playoff position.
"Every game is a playoff game right now and that's where you want to be. You don't want to be one of those teams where you're just looking for the end of the year. Every game matters right now and it's a lot of fun to play those games," expressed Jordan Weal. "The job for us is to treat it like any other game and go out there, relax the hands, relax the mind, but keep the work ethic. The teams that do that the best have the most success."
