Recap: Canadiens 6, Islanders 3

The New York Islanders' winless streak reached five games on Friday night, as the Isles dropped the second game of a home-and-home set to the Montreal Canadiens 6-3 at Barclays Center.
Tanner Fritz, Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson scored, but the Islanders played catchup on the scoreboard all night, getting into a tie game three times, but never taking the lead. Tied 3-3 in the third period, Paul Byron and Noah Juulsen scored goals 1:43 apart to give the Canadiens the lead for good, while Alex Galchenyuk's empty-netter completed his hat-trick (3G, 1A) and accounted for the final scoreline.

"They weren't in the game and we kept letting them take the lead," Head Coach Doug Weight said. "We were in control, we had the puck. I felt good and felt like it was a matter of time before we get one and then it's just one breakdown after another and it's in the net."
The 6-3 loss was the Islanders' second straight against the Canadiens, who started the home-and-home series well out of the playoff race. The two straight losses hurt in the standings, especially with the Carolina Hurricanes (69 points) and Florida Panthers (68 points) both winning on Friday. Columbus still holds the second wild card with 69 points.

"It's the same as the last three or four games. Those are chances to get at least one, probably two points every single time and we're coming up zero," Thomas Hickey said. "It's unacceptable… You need to win those games. It's that time of year."
Weight said the frustrating part of Friday's loss was holding the Canadiens to limited zone time, but seeing mistakes wind up in the back of the net.
It started with Brendan Gallagher deflecting an Alex Galchenyuk shot past Jaroslav Halak (19 saves) at 1:28 of the first period, one of five Montreal shots in the opening frame.

The Islanders tied it up with 5.8 seconds to play in the period, as Fritz avoided a Charlie Lindgren (32 saves) poke check on a breakaway before burying his second of the season.
The momentum didn't carry into the second period, as David Schlemko's shot clanked off the post to Galchenyuk who banged in a rebound to make it 2-1 at 2:17. Galchenyuk's second made it 3-2, netting a one-timer off a Mike Reilly pass at 10:31.
Bailey provided the response for the first Galchenyuk goal, beating Lindgren far side with a backhand to make it 2-2 at 4:23. And like the end of the first period, the Islanders scored on a buzzer beater, as Nelson tipped an Anthony Beauvillier shot past Lindgren with 3.3 seconds to play.
But in the third period, the Islanders couldn't find a response for Montreal's two quick strikes. Byron corralled Gallagher's pass off Halak and snapped it high at 8:10, while Juulsen beat a screened Halak at 9:53. Galchenyuk iced it at 19:11.

"It seemed like they were a little more opportunistic and they found a way to get goals at the right times and we got behind two pretty quickly there and was chasing after that," Bailey said.

EBERLE AND CIZIKAS OUT:

Jordan Eberle and Casey Cizikas both missed Friday's game. Eberle had some lingering soreness from Wednesday's contest, while Cizikas was at the hospital at the birth of his first child, Jack William Cizikas.
The Islanders went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen as a result.

NOTES:

Bailey's 16th goal of the season matched a career-high... Bailey played in his 700th career NHL game, all with the Islanders... Nick Leddy (1A) took over as the Islanders' reigning ironman at 142 straight games.

POSTGAME: