Islanders @ Canadiens [Game #70 thread]
Trust in the Ilya. | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The Islanders have a big one tonight in Montreal, where the Canadiens are in a three-way tie for the Atlantic’s third playoff spots (84 points, same as wild card occupants Detroit and Boston but with a game in hand) while the Islanders begin a night of play on the outside looking in for the first time since December. The Isles have 83 points and the same number of games played as the Bruins and Red Wings, who face each other in Detroit tonight.
Also in action are the Blue Jackets, at home to the Kraken before they meet the Isles on Long Island tomorrow night for one helluva high-stakes back-to-back weekend. Patrick Roy has made another line adjustment, moving Anthony Duclair up to the Brayden Schenn-Emil Heineman line, while Cal Ritchie drops to the fourth. #Isles at morning skate in Montreal (new lines) Lee-Horvat-Barzal Duclair-Schenn-Heineman Palat-Pageau-Holmstrom Ritchie-Cizikas-Gatcomb Extras: MacLean, Shabanov (LBI) Schaefer-Pulock Pelech-DeAngelo Soucy-Mayfield Extra: Boqvist Sorokin (starter’s net) Rittich — Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) March 21, 2026 Roy told Andrew Gross of Newsday that he likes Duclair’s defensive effort lately, so that addresses an obvious question one might have when seeing both Duclair and Heineman on the wings of a line that could see some potent opposition.
We’ll see how that goes. Roy also told Gross he just wanted to focus on tonight in terms of the goalie selection (Ilya Sorokin), so that sounds like there’s a chance Sorokin gets both starts, depending on tonight’s workload and outcome.