With their season spinning out of control down the stretch, the New York Islanders were tied 3-3 with the visiting Montreal Canadiens Friday night.
In the third period, the Habs took control with three unanswered goals and handed the Isles their fifth straight loss.
Alex Galchenyuk had a hat trick and four points in the win.
“We’re playing good hockey the last couple of weeks,” Galchenyuk said. “We’ve got to keep building. Obviously not making the playoffs is hard, but we’ve got to stick together. We’ve got a lot of young guys coming in and chipping in.”
Charlie Lindgren made 32 saves to get the win for Montreal.
“I think he’s (Galchenyuk) been playing well lately and he’s had some chances,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. “Tonight was one of those nights where there’s an empty-net goal, an unbelievable setup by Reilly, but he can shoot the puck. When he’s on top of his game, that’s what he does best. It was nice to see him come out with a four-point night on his 400th (NHL) game. It looks good on him.”
Brendan Gallagher, aPaul Byron and Noah Juulsen also scored for the Habs who improved to 25-29-10.
The Islanders have dropped all the way back to .500 hockey at 29-29-7.
“I don’t think anyone goes out there not trying their hardest, no question about that,” John Tavares said. “Obviously, we just haven’t been able to generate some momentum consistently. We just have to execute at a high level and have some better third periods and come on the right side of it. We just always seem to be coming on the wrong side of it.”
Josh Bailey, Brock Nelson and Tanner Fritz scored for the Isles.
“We’re not playing well,” New York coach Doug Weight said. “You can say what you want; we need more.”
[WATCH:Â All Canadiens vs. Islanders highlights]
Jaroslav Halak made 19 saves in taking the loss.
“It’s tough. We all want to win and we all want to be in the postseason. It’s going to take a lot of work from here on out, obviously. It’s going to be difficult, but we’re certainly not going to throw in the towel,” Bailey said after another loss.
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