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Islanders press on without Simon vs. Canadiens

Mar 13, 2007 - 2:54 PM NY Islanders (34-24-10) at Montreal (34-30-6) 7:30 pm EDT

MONTREAL (Ticker) -- Chris Simon's suspension has taken some of the focus away from the New York Islanders' playoff quest.

After dropping three of their five contests in March, the Islanders open a four-game homestand Tuesday with their final regular-season encounter against the Montreal Canadiens.

New York is 6-1-2 in its last nine games and is in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, with a two-point lead over the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes. The Islanders trail the sixth-place Tampa Bay Lightning by four points.

Simon was suspended for 25 games for his high-sticking incident against Ryan Hollweg of the Rangers last Thursday, which resulted in a match penalty. The punishment would continue into the postseason if the Islanders qualify.

After the Islanders dropped a pair of one-goal defeats to the Rangers, Jason Blake rallied them to their second win over the Washington Capitals in eight days with Saturday's 5-2 victory. He has five goals and four assists in 20 games against Montreal.

A 23-time Stanley Cup champion, Montreal is hoping to avoid missing the playoffs for the fifth time since 1997-1998. The Canadiens have dropped four of their last five and are two points in back of the Rangers and the Hurricanes in the East.

Montreal yielded 21 goals during the skid and appeared headed to its fifth straight loss after surrendering the first three goals to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. However, Alexei Kovalev scored the go-ahead goal with 1:25 remaining as the Canadiens rallied for a 4-3 triumph.

The Islanders have taken the last two matchups against the Canadiens this season. Miroslav Satan scored twice for New York in a 4-2 win on February 3, giving him 16 tallies and 15 assists lifetime against Montreal.