Numbers Game: Islanders @ Canadiens

MONTREAL - Here's a numerical look at Thursday night's game against the Islanders at the Bell Centre.

8 - The Canadiens now only have eight games remaining on the regular season calendar - four at home, and four on the road. They face the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday at the Bell Centre and the Hurricanes in Carolina on Sunday in their final back-to-back pair of the season. After that, games against the Florida Panthers (home), Columbus Blue Jackets (road), Winnipeg Jets (road), Tampa Bay Lightning (home), Washington Capitals (road), and Toronto Maple Leafs (home) remain.
1 - With his goal with just seven seconds to go in the first period, Joel Armia lit the lamp on the power play for the first time in his career, in his 229th game in the NHL. Armia has 11 goals for 18 points in 49 tilts this season.

9 - Jonathan Drouin earned an assist on Armia's first-period tally. The helper put an end to the Sainte Agathe native's nine-game pointless streak, and he also added a beautiful goal to complete a beautiful tic-tac-toe with Armia and Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the second. Prior to Thursday, the last time Drouin had gotten on the scoresheet was when he contributed four assists in the Habs' 8-1 win over the Red Wings in Detroit on February 26. Despite the rough patch, Drouin is enjoying one of the most productive years of his young career. He is now just a point shy of matching his career high of 53 points set with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2016-17.

24 - Number of hits the Canadiens dished out in the first period alone, three times as many as the Islanders. Armia led his squad with four of those hits in the opening frame. To help illustrate how high that total is, keep in mind that the Habs have recorded fewer than 24 hits in a full game 24 times this season.
9 -With his goal in the second period, Shea Weber became the ninth Habs player to reach the 30-point plateau this season. It was also the first time he's scored in consecutive games in 2018-19. The captain now has 13 goals and 17 assists in 50 games.

2 - Jordan Weal enjoyed a solid two-point night against the Islanders. In addition to that timely feed to Armia in the first, Weal tipped in Jordie Benn's shot from the point in the middle frame to make it 4-0 for the Canadiens. This was the fifth multi-point night of Weal's career, with the other four all coming while he was a member of the Philadelphia Flyers. The 26-year-old now has 15 points (6G, 9A) this season with the Flyers, Arizona Coyotes, and Canadiens.

44 - Carey Price was simply phenomenal in earning the 44th shutout of his career on Thursday. He made several other-worldly saves to keep the Islanders at bay throughout the game, turning aside 28 New York pucks on the night. It was the 31-year-old's fourth shutout of the season. Price, who recently overtook Jacques Plante as the winningest goaltender in franchise history, is now just two shutouts away from tying Ken Dryden for third-most all-time on the Canadiens.