Niemi, Drouin help Canadiens send Islanders to fourth straight loss

MONTREAL --The New York Islanders lost their fourth consecutive game, 3-1 to the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Wednesday in the first of a home-and-home.
New York (29-28-7) trails the Columbus Blue Jackets by four points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

"We can't capitalize on our chances right now," Islanders forward Mathew Barzal said. "It's frustrating. But the chances were there. Yeah, that game was winnable."
WATCH: [All Islanders vs. Canadiens highlights]
The Islanders, 0-3-1 during their streak and 4-8-2 in their past 14 games, host the Canadiens on Friday.
"We know they're fast, we know they're desperate to win, but we've got to be more desperate," New York forward Anthony Beauvillier said. "We've got to play with more urgency. I mean, there's [18] games left, but we've got to stop counting the games and trying to put some points on the board for us."

Jonathan Drouin had a goal and an assist, and Paul Byron and Nikita Scherbak scored for Montreal (24-29-10), which had lost consecutive games (0-0-2), and won for the second time in 10 games (2-4-4). Antti Niemi made 27 saves. He is 4-1-1 in his past seven starts.
"He played amazing and he gave us the chance to win the game, for sure," Scherbak said.
Barzal, who leads all NHL rookies in scoring with 67 points, scored his 18th goal at 3:50 of the first period to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead. He skated past rookie defenseman Noah Juulsen and deked Niemi to score on a backhand.
"I was stuck there flat-footed, a little bit, and once he has that speed, he's gone," said Juulsen, who played minor hockey against Barzal growing up in British Columbia.

The Islanders failed to score on shorthanded breakaways by Casey Cizikas and Brock Nelson while killing a slashing penalty at 7:23 on newly-acquired defenseman Brandon Davidson.
Drouin got an assist on Byron's 15th goal at 11:02, which drew Montreal even at 1-1.
Drouin made it 2-1 on the power play with his 10th goal at 8:29 of the second. He took a pass from Jeff Petry and drove forward from the left point to beat Jaroslav Halak with a slap shot from the face-off dot.
Scherbak, recalled from Laval of the American Hockey League on Monday, made it 3-1 with his second goal at 13:37.
"We need to find a way," said Halak, who made 23 saves. "It starts from me, and it goes along. And I guess tonight wasn't good enough for two points."

Goal of the game

Drouin's goal at 8:29 of the second period.

Save of the game

Niemi's save on Brock Nelson at 8:01 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Barzal's goal at 3:50 of the first period.

They said it

"I think they had three chances in the second period, and they scored on two. It was disappointing to be down. It felt like we did a lot of good things, but give them credit, they battled, they got in shot lanes and we kind of didn't take advantage of some good hard work we had. A couple of empty net looks, and a couple of really good chances down the slot, we didn't bury it." -- Islanders coach Doug Weight
"We're going to play playoff teams that are going to be hungry, or trying to make the playoffs, so we've got to match their intensity, and I think we did that tonight." -- Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin

Need to know

Davidson was acquired in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. He had one shot on goal in 16:51. … Forward Chris Wagner, acquired in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, had one shot and five hits in 12:00 in his Islanders debut. … Defenseman Mike Reilly had one shot and four hits in a game-high 22:56 in his first game with the Canadiens, who acquired him in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on Monday. … The Canadiens are 11 points behind the Blue Jackets for the second wild card from the East.

What's next

Islanders:Host the Montreal Canadiens on Friday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)
Canadiens:At the New York Islanders on Friday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)