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Coming off a road loss to the Florida Panthers, The Islanders invade the Bell Centre for a home and home vs the Montreal Canadians in a battle of two teams looking to take 1st place in their respective divisions.

The Blue, White and Orange played a solid game in their loss to Florida, but never held a lead. Rick Dipietros massive REBOUNDS proved costly as the Panthers scored late in the third and held the fort down the rest of the game for the win. The Islanders haven't won in Florida since 2006. The loss overshadowed John Tavares' best game in an Isles uniform.  He netted all of the Islanders goals, including the natural hat trick in the 4-3 loss. Since his return from a concussion, JT has netted 5 goals and 4 assists in 4 games. The Habs are the only team in the league that Tavares has yet to score a point on. 

No word yet if Alex Auld will make his first start of the season for Montreal but with a home and home you have to figure he gets the nod. Carey Price has played stellar this year, shouldering the load after the departure of last years playoff hero Halak.

I haven't seen any reports yet but would like to assume Roloson gets the nod on the road. This goals against average has been superb this season. The Habs do have one of the worst power-plays in the league which is good news for Scott Gordon and company since they Kill so well. Look for a big night tonight for Milan Jurcina.

Habs to Watch:Montreal has solid wingers Mike Cammalleri and Andrei Kostitsyn. Cammalleri has woken up this seen with consecutive multi-point games and Andrei Kostitsyn leads the team with 5 goals and 3 assists. You can't forget the center Tomas Plekanec either with 3 goals and 4 assists. 

Remember when: Remember when Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta use to terrorize the Islanders when they were with the Devils? Since coming to Montreal, both players have lost their luster and sometimes I forget they play for the Habs. Need a strong effort tonight from the Isles to keep the league on their toses when playing the new look Islanders. 

Grabner Watch: Michael Grabner didn't practice this week and didn't make the trip North of the Border. Matt Martin was called up to replace an injured. Trent Hunter. Katie Strang of Newsday, reports that Martin was practicing with Weight and Niederreiter.

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