Canadiens 3, Islanders 1
Carey Price made 37 saves to help Montreal enter the holiday break with a road victory.
Defenseman Andrei Markov, Brendan Gallagher and David Desharnais scored for the Canadiens, who have won five of their last six. Alex Galchenyuk assisted on Gallagher’s goal to give him seven points (four tallies) during his four-game streak.
Kyle Okposo netted the lone goal for New York, which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end. Chad Johnson stopped 18 shots in his first start since Dec. 9.
Price weathered the storm in the first period, stopping 13-of-14 shots. Okposo opened the scoring 12:04 into the contest, but Markov got Montreal on the board 6:10 into the second period with a slap shot from the point and Gallagher snapped home his 10th of the season 5:17 later to put the Canadiens in front.
Desharnais scored his third goal in five games during a give-and-go with Lars Eller, redirecting a return feed around Johnson with 1:11 remaining in the third period. Price stopped all 15 shots he faced over the final 20 minutes.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Islanders G Jaroslav Halak was a healthy scratch after starting the previous five games. … Montreal went 0-for-2 on the power play, dropping to 4-for-46 in man-advantage opportunities on the road. … New York fell to 10-2-0 at home since the end of October.