The Montreal Canadiens hope to aid their push for home ice in the first round of the playoffs when they host the New York Islanders in Thursdays game at the Bell Centre. Viewers in the Habs region can watch the game on TSN starting at 7:30pm et/8:30pm at and listen to it on TSN Radio 690. Montreal will face Tampa Bay in the first round of the playoffs and currently holds a three-point lead over the Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division and home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series. However, Tampa Bay has three games left in the regular season compared to two for the Canadiens. The Habs are closing their regular-season slate with two straight on home ice and will host the New York Rangers in their 82nd game on Saturday. Montreal is 22-12-5 as the home team this season. The Canadiens lost for just the second time in nine outings on Wednesday, but they still picked up a point in a 3-2 overtime loss at Chicago. Peter Budaj misplayed a harmless Patrick Sharp shot into the game winner at 43 seconds of OT, giving the Blackhawks a come-from-behind victory at United Center. Marian Hossa tied the game inside the final minute with the extra attacker, then Sharp won it when his contested, rolling shot from between the circles trickled up Budajs stick. Instead of trapping it, the Habs netminder tried to shake it away, and instead whacked it into the net for Chicagos winning goal. "We were in a position to get two points, but I really liked the way we played," Montreal head coach Michel Therrien said. "On the last two goals, it was some bad coverage in front of the net. Im sure on the last goal, the winning goal, (Budaj) certainly would like to see that shot again, but those things happen." Dale Weise and Francis Bouillon scored for the Canadiens, while Budaj took the loss despite 25 stops. The Islanders are out of the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons after making an appearance last spring. The club has lost three straight and has been outscored by a combined 8-1 margin over the last two games. After losing 4-0 in Columbus on Sunday, New York was dealt a 4-1 setback by the visiting Ottawa Senators in Tuesdays season finale at Nassau Coliseum. Jason Spezza scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the third period to lift the Senators to the win and drop New Yorks record this season on Long Island to 13-19-9. "We had some problems here at home," said Islanders coach Jack Capuano. "Thats something we have to straighten out if we want to make the playoffs." Next season marks New Yorks last campaign at the Coliseum, as the club is scheduled to move to Brooklyns Barclays Center at the start of 2015-16. Frans Nielsen scored for the Islanders, while Anders Nilsson made 28 saves in a losing effort. New York will play three games on the road to complete its schedule and is 18-18-2 as the visiting team. After tonights tilt at the Bell Centre, the Isles will visit New Jersey on Friday before ending the campaign Sunday in Buffalo. Montreal has won three straight against the Islanders overall, but New York has claimed three of the past five meetings in Quebec. Boston Bruins at Winnipeg Jets The Boston Bruins will try to move closer to just the second Presidents Trophy in franchise history on Thursday night as they take on the Winnipeg Jets. Viewers in the Jets region can watch the game on TSN starting at 6:30pm ct/7:30pm et and listen to it on TSN Radio 1290 in Winnipeg. The Bruins lead the NHL with 114 points, two ahead of the idle Anaheim Ducks with a game in hand. Boston has already locked up the top seed in the Eastern Conference and has not finished a season as the top points earner since 1989-90, when it lost to the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Finals. With nothing to play for down the stretch, the Bruins have lost three of their last four games, but they are 1-1-2 in that stretch and have earned a point in 19 of their previous 20 games (16-1-3). Boston is coming off Tuesdays 4-3 shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild, yielding the game-tying goal with 1:05 left in regulation before getting shut out in the tiebreaker. Loui Eriksson, Reilly Smith and Patrice Bergeron lit the lamp for the Bruins, while Tuukka Rask made 21 saves. "I felt we were a little sloppy tonight. We werent very sharp in our passing and our playmaking," Bruins head coach Claude Julien said. Both forward Jarome Iginla and defenseman Kevan Miller missed a second straight game, while David Krejci, who leads the NHL with a plus-39 rating, was scratched from the game for rest. Both Iginla and Miller practiced on Wednesday and could be game-time decisions. The Bruins will host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday before ending the regular season at the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. Rask figures to get some rest over that time, but could start tonight and is 8-4-0 lifetime versus the Jets with a 1.98 goals against average and two shutouts. Winnipeg comes in having lost four of its last six games and will miss the playoffs for a seventh straight season. The Jets are also banged up as both Andrew Ladd (undisclosed) and Dustin Byfuglien (upper body) will miss the clubs final two games of the regular season, while goaltender Al Montoya and defensemen Zach Bogosian and Keaton Ellerby are questionable due to injury. Though Winnipeg lost a 1-0 decision to Minnesota on Monday, it marked a solid NHL debut for Michael Hutchinson as he posted 16 saves. The 24-year-old Hutchinson, a third-round pick by Boston in 2008, began the season in the ECHL before putting up solid numbers with the St. Johns IceCaps of the AHL. "Everyone hopes to play a game in the NHL every season but realistically I didnt think itd be possible," admitted Hutchinson. "Im very fortunate to have been in some good situations and I was able to play well this year and I was just happy to get a shot." Winnipeg ends its regular season on Friday at the Calgary Flames and Hutchinson may get another start tonight. The Jets have lost three of four and six of their last nine versus the Bruins, including a 4-1 setback in Boston on Jan. 4. Torey Krug scored twice and had an assist for Boston, while Rask posted 36 saves. Byfuglien had the lone Winnipeg goal and Ondrej Pavelec made 25 saves in defeat. The Bruins have lost five of their last six road meetings with the Winnipeg/Atlanta franchise. Fake Yeezy 350 v2 Black . With Van Osch out with a flu bug that has been rampaging through the tournament, Knezevic stepped in to lead B.C. (4-3) to a pair of victories on Tuesday before 1,131 at the Maurice Richard Arena. Yeezy Boost 350 v2 Core Black/White .40 metres at the Drake Relays. Drouin, from Corunna, Ont., bested his own record of 2.38 metres set in Aug. http://www.yeezys350cheap.com/.S. President Barack Obama saluted the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks at the White House on Monday -- a rare moment for a president hungry to see more victorious teams from his hometown. Wholesale Yeezy 350 v2 Zebra . The Marlies centre set up three goals, including the game-winner, as Toronto cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Oklahoma City Barons in American Hockey League action. Fake Yeezy 350 V2 . The struggling New Orleans Pelicans were simply overmatched. Crawford hit seven 3s on his way to 24 points, and the Clippers beat the Pelicans 123-110 on Monday night. "We understand what we do well. If we all do what we do well, well make our team stronger," Crawford said.AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The Masters is underway with three shots right down the middle of the fairway. Just not terribly far. Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus hit the ceremonial tee shots Thursday morning with fans already lining both sides of the first fairway. Still competitive even after all these years, Nicklaus went last and hit a drive that went about a yard past Players shot. The "Big Three" combined to win 13 green jackets, including seven in a row at the start of the 1960s. This Masters is far less predictable. Without Tiger Woods or a dominant figure, its seen as the most wide-open Masters in years. A bunch of brash Augusta rookies are eager to fill Woods shoes. And the last two dozen majors have been divvied up among 21 winners. Early Thursday, Stewart Cink, Ian Woosnam and Jonas Blixt were all 1-under-par, leading among the early starters. Ryan Moore, who won the Par 3 contest Wednesday, thinks it might be time to break the curse of that winner never winning the tournament. "You never know," he said. "Someone has got to break that (Par 3) curse at some point in time, so hopefully its me. Who knows? I might go shoot 8 under or something, make a couple of hole-in-ones." As unlikely as that sounds, pretty much everything else is up for grabs at this Masters. Recovering from back surgery, Woods is sitting out the opening major of the year for the first time since turning pro. Even as his dominance waned in recent years, he was always the clear-cut favourite coming into Augusta, where he has won four times. Now, as Moore said, who knows? Jason Day, Sergio Garcia and former Masters champion Zach Johnson are the only players from the top 10 who have won anywhere in the world this year. Only one of the past seven winners on the PGA Tour was ranked in the top 75. "I think if youre outside the top 50 in the world this week, youve got a great chance," U.S. Open champion Justin Rose said with a laugh. Woods is out of golf until the summer, but the show goes on at a tournament that rarely fails to deliver plenty of drama. "We miss Tiger, as does the entire golf world," Masters chairman Billy Payne said. "Nevertheless, this is the Masters. This is what we hope is the best tournament in the world, one of the greatest sporting events.dddddddddddd And I think we will have a very impressive audience and have another great champion to crown this year." That could be Phil Mickelson, who last year won the British Open at age 42 and now has a chance to join Woods and Arnold Palmer with a fourth green jacket. It could be Adam Scott, trying to take over as the worlds No. 1 player and join Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the only back-to-back winners. While Woods last won a green jacket in 2005, he had finished out of the top six only once since then. Thats what made him such a compelling figure at Augusta. He always seemed to be there. "Its a huge loss," Scott said. "But, as every year here, this event produces something special no matter what. It just has a way of doing it. Its not going to involve Tiger this year, but it will involve someone else and it will be a memorable event anyway." Rose falls on the side of experience -- knowing where to miss, knowing where you cant afford to miss, where the hole locations tend to be on the contoured greens and using the slope to get the ball close. "Always you can have the unknowns," he said. "But I would say 15 guys are pretty strong favourites." Fuzzy Zoeller was the last Augusta rookie to claim the green jacket in 1979, and the only other ones to do it were the first two: Horton Smith and Gene Sarazen. Then again, there are 24 first-timers in the 98-player field, a record (except for the first tournament), and none of them will concede an insurmountable learning curve. Besides, no one is dominating golf at the moment. Jimmy Walker has the most PGA Tour wins (three) this season, but this is his first Masters. Scott had a chance to go to No. 1 three weeks ago at Bay Hill, but he lost a three-shot lead in the final round to Matt Every, who had never won in his career. "Doesnt matter if youve played here once or if youve played here 50 times," said Patrick Reed, who has won three times in the past eight months. "When it comes down to it, its just going to be that whoever is playing the best is going to walk away with the trophy." Who knows? Maybe it will be Moore. Hes certainly not fretting over a supposed curse. "Im not afraid of it," he said. ' ' '