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Higgins, Canadiens set to visit Islanders

Jan 15, 2008 - 2:32 PM Montreal (22-14-8) at NY Islanders (22-17-5) 7:00 pm EST

UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- Christopher Higgins apparently loves playing against his hometown team.

A Smithtown, New York native, Higgins leads the Montreal Canadiens into a matchup with the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum on Tuesday night.

Higgins, who has seven career goals in eight games against Islanders, had the game-winning tally in the clubs' most recent meeting as the Canadiens skated to a 4-1 victory on November 21.

The 24-year-old Higgins, who has been held goalless for the previous four games, is second on the team with 16 tallies this season.

Alexei Kovalev leads Montreal with 19 goals and 41 points this campaign but had his five-game points streak snapped against his former team on Saturday as the Canadiens suffered a 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers.

The Islanders will seek their third straight win after defeating the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

Goaltender Rick DiPietro has been very busy the last three contests, turning aside 112 of the 119 shots he faced in that span. He has also participated in two shutouts over that stretch.

The 26-year-old netminder is 18-14-5 with a 2.52 goals-against average and two shutouts on the campaign.