3 Takeaways: Islanders Comeback Cut Short with 4-3 Loss to Canadiens

The New York Islanders rallied out of an 0-3 hole, but their comeback bid fell short with a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night at Centre Bell.

Sean Monahan’s three-point night (2G, 1A), including the game-winner with 2:18 left in regulation, paved the way for the Canadiens’ win. Bo Horvat (1G, 1A), Mathew Barzal (1G, 1A) and Kyle Palmieri rallied with three-power play goals to erase a 3-0 deficit, but the comeback effort ultimately fell short, as the Islanders came up empty handed in regulation.

"Frustrating result considering the effort," Anders Lee said after the Islanders fired off a season-high 46 shots. "We stuck with it and grinded ourselves back into that game and played a good hockey and for the most part. A resilient group tonight down three and not giving up."

With the regulation loss at Centre Bell, the Islanders finished January’s slate of road games with a record of 1-5-2.

"If we continue to play and put efforts like we did last game and for the majority of tonight's game, we'll get results," said Noah Dobson, who had three assists in the loss. "We'll stick together as a group and turn the ship around."

FIRST PERIOD, PK PUT ISLES IN EARLY HOLE

Much like their first visit to Montreal on Dec. 16, the Islanders put themselves in an early hole, finding themselves with a 3-0 deficit midway through the first period.

After a quick start – which included a 5-0 shot advantage for the Islanders – a Hudson Fasching delay of game penalty, gave the Canadiens the man advantage and first power play of the game. Captain Nick Suzuki deflected Juraj Slafkovsky's shot from the right circle to give Montreal the 1-0 advantage at 7:06 of the first period.

The Islanders had an opportunity to tie the score on a man advantage of their own, but instead the Islanders interrupted their power play by taking a penalty, marking the 16^th time they’d done so this season.Shortly after, Cole Caufield took advantage of a turnover in the Islanders zone to move in on Semyon Varlamov to bury the second goal of the game at 11:36 when the teams were skating four-on-four.  

"We put a puck in the stands and made a turnover, and what that does is just kill our momentum," Head Coach Patrick Roy said. "We need to work on some of our mistakes."

After a Sean Monahan power-play goal made it 3-0 at 12:19 of the first period, Roy called a timeout to help his team regroup. It marked the 40^th power play goal surrendered this season, surpassing last year’s total of 39 through 82 games. 

“We talked about the mindset, I just wanted us to mainly focus on what we have to do," Roy said. “There was about seven minutes left in that [first] period, we didn't need to give up another one. Let's try to switch the momentum and find a way to score."

COMEBACK EFFORT FALLS SHORT

Down 3-0, the Islanders used special teams to score three consecutive power-play goals to tie the game at three apiece in a valiant comeback effort that ultimately fell short.

The Islanders began to chip away, converting on a 5-on-3 chance in the second period to get on the board. Bo Horvat finished off a pass from Mathew Barzal with a sharp angle shot at 3:02 of the middle frame.  The goal marked Horvat’s 20^th goal of the season and team-leading eighth power-play goal.

Down 3-1, the complexion of the game changed after Adam Pelech took an elbow to the head from Brenden Gallagher, who was issued a five-minute major as a result.. The Islanders used the five-minute major to erase the deficit and tie the score at three apiece, converting twice on the power play.

 Barzal pulled the Islanders within one at 14:52, as he sniped a shot from the left dot high on Sam Montembeault. Kyle Palmieri was able to stuff in a Noah Dobson rebound for the equalizer at 16:28. Both players had active games, as Barzal finished the game with career-high tying nine shots.

"We were down 3-0 and they were all power play goals. Five on five I thought we were doing a lot of good things, it was just a matter of us doing a better job on the penalty kill in the first period," Bo Horvat said. "And then the rest of the game I just thought we kind of took over, but at the end of the day we just didn't get the job done."

The power play finished the game 3-for-8, while Montreal’s finished 2-for-5. For a game dominated by special teams, it was a bit of a departure – and a heartbreak for the Islanders – that the game-winner came five-on-five. Turnovers were the culprit again, as Pierre Engvall tried to carry the puck out of the zone, but was intercepted by Caufield, who fed Josh Anderson and eventually Monahan for the winning goal on a one-timer in the slot.

LINEUP CHANGES

Hudson Fasching left the game and did not return after taking a hard hit to the boards following a breakaway in the second period, forcing the Islanders to skate 11 forwards for the remainder of the game.

Fasching recorded one hit and skated 2:52 on a line with Cal Clutterbuck and Kyle MacLean after Matt Martin (day to day, illness) was a late scratch.

Pierre Engvall made his return to game action after missing four games with an upper-body injury. The Swedish winger skated 15:02, recording two shots on goal but finished the game with a -2 rating.  

Samuel Bolduc slotted into the lineup, replacing Mike Reilly. Bolduc, who is a native of Laval, Quebec, registered five shots (one on goal, one attempt blocked, three missed) and 11:49 in his second career game at Centre Bell.

Adam Pelech left the game after taking the high hit from Gallagher and did not return.

NEXT GAME

The Islanders return home to take on the Florida Panthers on Saturday in their last game before the NHL All-Star break. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.