The game between the Canadiens and the Islanders is currently being broadcast on RDS and RDS Direct.
Summary Canadians-Islanders
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Andrew Hammond gets his first NHL start in nearly four years against the New York Islanders on Sunday afternoon.
Hammond hasn’t played in the NHL since March 28, 2018, against the Philadelphia Flyers. Despite everything, the “Hamburglar” never stopped believing in his chances of returning to the Bettman circuit one day, even though he had to evolve within the Minnesota Wild’s reserve squad last year.
“I’m super excited. Last season was difficult at times, but it allowed me to prepare for this moment. I know I’ll be ready when I get to the net. With everything that was going on last year, with the pandemic and everything, you never knew when you’d be called back to the regular (Wild) roster. I learned a lot last year about always being ready to play, and taking advantage of the opportunities that are given to you,” Hammond first said via video call after practice at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard.
“It’s set the stage for what’s been happening here for a week – things can change very quickly – so I’m very excited about the prospect of playing,” added the 34-year-old goaltender.
This dream scenario for Hammond is explained by the fact that the Canadians will play two games in as many days. After the game against the Islanders, the Habs will host the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Center on Monday night.
“He (Hammond) will play tomorrow, and we will come back with “Monty” (Samuel Montembeault) on Monday. A player like him, who hasn’t played in the NHL for three or four years, continues to work on his game, with the right attitude. He seems to like hockey, and it’s ‘fun’ to give chances to like-minded guys,” said St-Louis, after earning his first career win as a coach. leader in the NHL on Thursday in a 3-2 overtime win against the Saint Louis Blues.
St-Louis took the opportunity to take stock of his first week of activity behind the Canadiens bench, during which he compiled a 1-3 record.
“Every time I find myself behind the bench, I have this feeling that I am in the right place. It is important. All the work that comes with it is difficult, but I appreciate it, and sometimes, even if it’s demanding and exhausting, I tell myself that it’s normal, ”explained the 46-year-old Quebecer.
In addition, St. Louis indicated that it is possible that defenseman Ben Chiarot will return to his position against the Islanders. Chiarot, whose name has been circulating in numerous trade rumors for a few weeks already, trained with his teammates again on Saturday. He is officially injured in the lower body.
Earlier this afternoon, the Canadiens announced on social media that defender Corey Schueneman has been placed on the COVID-19 protocol list and will not be accompanying the team to New York.
In attack, Joel Armia and Christian Dvorak are absent from the short training session of the Canadian, and the team has indicated that they will not accompany their teammates in New York.
Armia was accidentally kicked by Blues forward Robert Thomas in the face in the final game, resulting in a deep laceration. St-Louis indicated that his state of health is reassessed on a daily basis. Armia was replaced by Michael Pezzetta in a line completed by Ryan Poehling and Artturi Lehkonen on Saturday.
For his part, Dvorak has not skated with the team for a few days already, and the organization mentioned that it will be necessary to wait a little longer before seeing him return to the game. Dvorak had suffered a blow to the head during of the game against the Wild on January 24. He hasn’t played in a single match since that time.
On the other hand, Cole Caufield was once again paired with Nick Suzuki and Josh Anderson. Mathieu Perreault and Laurent Dauphin alternated at the center of a line completed by Mike Hoffman and Brendan Gallagher. Meanwhile, Rem Pitlick and Cédric Paquette took turns rehearsing with Jake Evans and Paul Byron, who played his 500th NHL game on Thursday.
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