In Montreal, the Canadiens held a moment of silence in respect for New York Islanders’ legend Mike Bossy on Friday night.
Bossy passed on Friday after an illness.
“Mike was a class act,” the Islanders’ Josh Bailey said. “He meant a lot to our community in Long Island and did a lot of good things on and off the ice. It was tough to hear that news. Obviously our condolences and thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and loved ones at this time. That was difficult to hear. We were certainly motivated tonight, obviously they were as well. It was nice to get a big win here, and Sorokin, what more can you say, he stood on his head.”
In the game, Zach Parise scored early in the third period to snap a scoreless tie and help send the Islanders to a 3-0 win over the Canadiens.
“I was a little surprised,” Parise said. “I corralled the puck and looked across and saw both of those guys there. I could tell ‘Barzy’ really wanted that puck. Our conversion rate hasn’t been very high on 2-on-0s this year, so I wanted to get it to him. He was coming down the middle and I let him make the decision. I was ready for him to send it back, I just had a good feeling that he was going to send that back. I already knew Bellows had a touch on it, so I wanted to get ‘Barzy’ involved too.”
Ilya Sorokin made 44 saves in the Isles win.
Noah Dobson scored less than two minutes after Parise for a 2-0 advantage.
New York improved to 35-30-9.
Carey Price made his season debut for Montreal and made 17 saves in the loss.
“It’s definitely been a trying season for myself, on a personal level and for the team,” Price said. “And to be able to come back and feel somewhat normal, I didn’t feel quite normal, but pretty close.”
The Habs fell to 20-44-11.
“I think he’s (Price) been the heart and soul of this organization for a long time,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “He’s been a reason why they’ve had some great playoff runs and great teams. It all starts there. You find a great team, there’s usually a really good goaltender. He came here as a young kid, highly touted, and he’s delivered.”
Brock Nelson hit for an empty=net goal with 99 seconds left n the game for the 3-0 final.
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