Oct 28 Habs Game 10 Preview - Canadiens @ Islanders

Have you done it yet? You know what I am talking about! Have you taken 15 minutes out of your day to gaze at the NHL Standings? Barring the results of Thursday night's games, your Montreal Canadiens sit atop the Eastern Conference. Yes, I know that only 9 games have been played by the Habs so far this season, and we are barely 10% of the way through, but no one, and I mean no one could have predicted that the Canadiens would be in this position even at this point in the season. For those with short term memories, the reasons were simple: 1 - Markov was out, 2 - PK Subban would be on a learning curve, 3 - Kostitsyn was a huge question mark and last, but far from least, 4 - Carey Price is bouncing back from a sub par season. With the exception of Markov, who is expected to make his return on Saturday night against the Florida Panthers, all 3 questions had been answered in ways that has surprised even the most doped up optimist.The Canadiens now travel to New York to take on the Islanders, which is not only a team who just lost 5 - 3 to the Canadiens, but who have a very interesting NO HABS NO campaign for home games.The Islanders have not lost in regulation time in 3 games so far this season. The Canadiens are 3-1 on the road.

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The Skinny on the Habs

There are many different rinks around the NHL which have a familiar home feeling to the Canadiens. Not because of the dimensions, surface of the ice, or local francophone populations, but because the Canadiens fans sometimes greatly outnumber that of the "home" team. One such team has taken great lengths to rid themselves of those pesky "Na Na Na Na" singers by starting a "No Habs No" campaign. While that may not deter Habs fans from showing up, it could make the atmosphere considerably less friendly, and could give a morale boost to an Islanders team who have been decidedly more chirpy this season. This team actually believes that they can win! A far cry from the Islanders teams in the early 80's, the Islanders have only made the playoffs once in the last 6 seasons.

Alex Auld will get the start for the 1st time this season, giving Carey Price his first day off in 10 games. Auld has not been very active over the last 5 seasons, averaging only 25 starts.

The Canadiens and PK Subban will not have to worry about the cherry picking efforts of Nino Niederreiter, as he has been assigned back to Portland of the WHL.

This will be the last game of someone on the defensive core. With Andrei Markov set to make his return on Saturday, Picard is wondering if O'Byrne is keeping his spot in the press box warm, and O'Byrne is hoping the fact other teams have been trying to physically intimidate the Habs means that coach Martin may want to keep him around for his size. Our new Canadiens contributor Will Martinez has another solution that will make both Ryan O'Byrne and Alexandre Picard happy.

PK Subban, in case you were wondering, is currently 7th in points for rookies. Out of the top 18 rookies, Subban is the only one who has yet to score his first NHL goal, despite being 2nd overall in shots.

Subban is not the only Habs defenseman to still be on the hunt for their 1st goal. The list also includes Hamrlik, Spacek,  and Gill.

Tags: Gill \ habs \ Hamrlik \ Markov \ Martin \ Montreal Canadiens \ New York Islanders \ NHL \ Picard \ PK Subban