Islanders defeat Canadiens, clinch final Stanley Cup Playoff berth

ELMONT, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders clinched the final Stanley Cup Playoff berth in the Eastern Conference with a 4-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at UBS Arena on Wednesday.

The Islanders qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons (missing last season) in their final regular-season game.
"It's pretty gratifying," New York coach Lane Lambert said. "Yes, [qualifying for the playoffs] is the first step but it's a very difficult step. It's a step that required 82 games -- doesn't always require the full 82, for us it did - [and] there's a lot of things that go on, whether it be injuries or whatever you have to come through and fight through. I thought our group from top to bottom, staff, everybody did a great job of grinding through it and finding a way to get to where we are right now."

The Islanders hold the first wild card into the playoffs from the East, one point ahead of the Florida Panthers. The Panthers host the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.
Depending on the outcome of the Panthers-Hurricanes game, the Islanders could face either Carolina or the NHL-best Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference First Round.
"Let's get to that in a couple days," Islanders captain Anders Lee said. "Both teams clearly had great regular seasons. They're kind of those teams that kind of seem to have it all a little bit. So tough matchups for us. We believe in this group and what we can do. And, you know, they [have] to beat us four [times] and we [have] to beat them four [times]. That's why the playoffs are so great."
Brock Nelson scored twice for the Islanders (42-31-9). Ilya Sorokin made 17 saves.
"We had a chance at home and wanted to take advantage of it," Nelson said. "I thought we did everything we needed to outside of the power play goal against but the crowd was good. I thought we'd get energy, [a] good start; well-deserved."

Sam Montembeault made 31 saves for the Canadiens (31-44-6), who have lost two straight. The Canadiens host the Bruins Thursday in their regular-season finale.
"A great atmosphere tonight, a playoff atmosphere," Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. "The atmosphere makes you want to be part of [the playoffs]. Obviously it's not this year for us but every game is something you can grab from."
Nelson gave New York a 1-0 lead 10:26 into the first period with his 35th of the season. He finished a give-and-go with Kyle Palmieri with a shot from the left circle that beat Montembeault to the glove side.
Rem Pitlick tied the game 1-1 at 17:38. Noah Dobson committed a turnover in the defensive zone, and Jake Evans jumped on the loose puck and found Pitlick, who scored from a sharp angle below the right circle.
Hudson Fasching gave New York a 2-1 lead 1:19 later by jamming a rebound under Montembeault for his 10th goal.
"You're trying to get a momentum-changing goal," Fasching said. "That's always something we're looking for."

Nelson extended the Islanders lead to 3-1 at 10:20 of the second period when he tipped Dobson's point shot for his second goal.
Nick Suzuki scored an unassisted shorthanded goal at 16:38 to cut New York's lead to 3-2. He deflected the puck away from Ryan Pulock in the defensive zone then outraced Samuel Bolduc before one-handing a shot over Sorokin's glove while falling to the ice.
"I had no idea it went in, to be honest," Suzuki said. "Everyone started coming over to me and I just tried to get a stick on it and put the puck to the net. Luckily it went in."
Lee scored on the power play at 16:00 of the third period to extend New York's lead to 4-2. He tipped in Sebastian Aho's shot-pass to end the Islanders' 0-for-18 drought with the man-advantage.
"Our power play, it's going to have to score some goals in [the] playoffs, there's no question about it," Lambert said. "So there's a big goal for us at a big, big moment. And so it's nice to get that."
NOTES: Nelson became the 12th player in Islanders history with at least 30 multigoal games in the NHL. … Nelson's eight multigoal games this season are the most since Lee had nine in 2017-18. … Sorokin went 20-10-3 at home, joining Jaroslav Halak (22 in 2014-15) and Billy Smith (20 in 1981-82) as the only Islanders goalies with 20 home wins in a season.