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The Montreal Canadiens will get a good measure of where they stand in this early season when they host the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals at Bell Centre on Thursday.The Canadiens , who finished 14th in the Eastern Conference last season, are 6-3-2, but are coming off one of their poorest performances of the season, a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on home ice Tuesday. It was the Stars’ first road win of the season.This will be the second of a three-game homestand for the Canadiens, which concludes Saturday when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Canadiens are in the first wild-card position in the Eastern Conference.Article continues below ...Canadiens coach Claude Julien wasn’t sure Wednesday who would be available to face the Capitals. Top forwards Brendan Gallagher and Paul Byron did not practice Wednesday. Gallagher is expected to play while Byron’s (lower body) status is uncertain.If Byron cannot play, forward Andrew Shaw, who has battled a series of injuries (concussion and knee) and has been a healthy scratch for the past two games, could be back in the lineup.“It’s really hard. My game isn’t at the level it should be,” Shaw told the team’s website. “I missed a lot of games. With the speed of games night after night, I have to be at my best … I’ll be ready when the team needs me.”Julien was preaching patience with Shaw Tyler Seguin Jersey , who is at his best when he plays an energy game and agitates the opposition.“We had a conversation and we were honest. He listened and he understood. At the end of the day, it isn’t his fault or mine,” Julien told reporters at his daily briefing. “We have to work together to get him back playing his best hockey. He had a lot of major injuries, so he has to get back on track.“When Shaw is at his best, he brings a lot to the table. He can play on the top lines, on the power play and on the penalty kill. He can also be an energy player on the fourth line. He can bring a little bit of everything.”Julien also juggled his lines after the loss to the Capitals with an interesting all-Finns line of Artturi Lehkonen, rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Joel Armian skating together in practice.Carey Price will start in goal for the Canadiens and will face Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, who is showing no signs of a Stanley Cup hangover. Ovechkin leads the Capitals with eight goals, three off the league lead held by Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks and David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins.The Canadiens have been one of Ovechkin’s favorite teams to play against over the years. He had 49 points (27 goals and 22 assists) in 46 games against the Canadiens. Ovechkin seems to light up when he plays in the electric atmosphere at Bell Centre.Capitals rookie coach Todd Reirden said Ovechkin has become a more well-rounded player.“I’ve liked how his overall game has been good and consistent, and I’ve liked how his first 10 games have been compared to last year’s 10 games ,” Reirden told NHL.com. “Maybe he had a few more goals initially, obviously, with the hat tricks and stuff like that, but his overall game for me is better.”Ovechkin started last season with seven goals in two games — three against the Ottawa Senators and four against the Canadiens.Ovechkin modified his offseason workouts, taking more time off between sessions last summer.“Mentally, I feel better,” he told NHL.com. “But physically, it’s hard to say because last year we had a different schedule. Last year, almost every second day we had a game. and this year as soon as you get in a rhythm then you have days off. But right now, almost every second day we’re going to have a game , so it’s going to be fun.”The Capitals (5-3-2, fourth in the Metropolitan Division) will finish a four-game road trip against the Canadiens. They are 2-1-0 so far on the trip across Canada.Capitals defenseman Brooks Orik will miss the game against the Canadiens after sustaining a lower body injury against the Calgary Flames on Saturday. The Capitals called up Aaron Ness from their Hershey farm team in the AHL. NEW YORK — The New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks were two of the most surprising stories of the NHL through the first month of the season. But these next few weeks are likely to reveal more about the Islanders and Canucks than the first few weeks.The Islanders and Canucks will each be looking to snap losing streaks Tuesday night, when New York hosts Vancouver at Barclays Center.The Islanders suffered their third straight loss Saturday night, when they fell to the host Florida Panthers, 4-2. The visiting Canucks lost their second consecutive game Monday, when they dropped a 2-1 decision to the New York Rangers.Article continues below ...For the Islanders (8-6-2), the losing streak followed a five-game winning streak that catapulted them to the top of the Metropolitan Division. But new head coach Barry Trotz is looking at the recent struggles as an opportunity for New York — which wasn’t expected to contend for a playoff spot following the offseason departure of John Tavares to the Toronto Maple Leafs — to display its maturity.“Two things happen to this team when teams go into funks,” Trotz told reporters following practice Monday afternoon. “Everybody wants to play the blame game. It’s the power play, it’s the penalty kill, it’s the coach , it’s the management, whatever. The teams that come out of the other end if you let them fight through the adversity, and there’s no blame someone for this or blame someone for that — what happens is those teams always come out better on the other side. They become more resilient. They become better teams.”Like the Islanders, the Pacific Division-leading Canucks (10-7-2) are in a far better position than anyone could have envisioned after the retirements of twin brothers Henrik and Daniel Sedin ushered in a rebuilding era. But in losing three of their last four games — and falling each time by a goal — Vancouver is learning the fine line between victory and defeat.The Canucks gave up two goals in the final three minutes of a 4-3 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday and lost Monday when the Rangers scored twice off faceoffs deep in the Vancouver zone.“It’s a tough league — if you relax for a second, you get punished,” Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom said Monday night, when he took the loss after making 25 saves. “In Buffalo, that was the case. It was a tough one. And then today, too.”Neither team announced a starting goalie for Tuesday night, though with the Canucks playing the second game of a back-to-back set , it is likely ex-Islanders goalie Anders Nilsson will draw the start in place of Markstrom, who has started eight straight games. Nilsson last played Oct. 25, when he took the loss after making 26 saves as Vancouver fell to the Arizona Coyotes, 4-1.Robin Lehner has been in net for the Islanders’ last two losses — including Saturday, when he made 27 saves against the Panthers — so New York could turn back to Thomas Greiss on Tuesday. Greiss hasn’t played since Nov. 5, when he recorded 32 saves and took the defeat in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens.Nilsson is 0-3-0 in three career appearances against the Islanders. Greiss (2-2-0) and Lehner (1-2-0) have each made four appearances against the Canucks.