In Montreal, Sean Monahan scored with 2:12 left in regulation on Thursday night to snap a 3-3 tie with the visiting New York Islanders and send the Canadiens to a 4-3 win.
The Canadiens jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening stanza, but surrendered three straight power play goals to the Isles to find themselves in a dog fight down the stretch.
Sam Montembeault made 43 saves in the win.
For Monahan, it was second of the night,.
“It was really emotional,” Montembeault said. “I was really happy that he got that goal. Obviously, it’s a huge goal for us.”
The Canadiens improved to 20-21-7.
The opening stanza was all Canadiens as they posted three unanswered goals.
Nick Suzuki got the Habs on the roll with a power play strike 7:06.
“Our best players were our best players in the first,” Montembeault said. “So … Suzuki, Cole and (Mike) Matheson, they got us going.”
Cole Caufield added a marker at 11:36 for a 20=0 advantage to the Canadiens.
Monahan potted his first of the game at 12:19, also off the power play..
“Our best players were our best players in the first,” Montembeault said. “So … Suzuki, Cole and (Mike) Matheson, they got us going.”
Islanders coach Patrick Roy called a timeout after the third goal in the first.
“I thought we were tested there, and I just wanted us to remain focused on what we have to do,” Roy said. “Don’t try to do it on your own, let’s try to do it as a group. There was about what, seven minutes left in the period, let’s get out of there at 3-0. We didn’t need to give up another goal, or let’s try to switch the momentum and try to score the next one.”
New York dropped to 20-17-11 off their second straight loss under Roy.
Roy was feted ahead of the puck drop on the game for his return to Montreal.
“I didn’t know what to expect, honestly,” Roy said. “I never look at the clock, but I got caught looking a bit and I saw something, but in games like this you just want to be focused. I said it all along, it was not about me, it was about my team.”
Bo Horvat started the Islanders rally with a power play goal at 3:02 of the middle frame to get the Isles to within two, at 3-1 headed to the third period.
In the third, the Canadiens were called for a match penalty on Brendan Gallagher for an egregious elbowing call in the neutral zone.
New York struck twice on the major assessed to Gallagher to crawl back to a tie game, 3-3.
Mathew Barzal hit at 14:52, and Kyle Palmieri tied the game at 16:28 for the Islanders.
Semyon Varlamov made 22 saves in the loss.
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