Canadiens 4, Islanders 1
MONTREAL -- Center David Desharnais' goal stood as the winner as the Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Islanders 4-1 on Thursday night at the Bell Centre.
Right wingers Dale Weise and Brendan Gallagher, and center Tomas Plekanec scored for the Canadiens. Right winger Kyle Okposo connected for New York.
Goaltender Jaroslav Halak stopped 20 shots for the Islanders (7-4-3) and Mike Condon made 17 saves for Montreal (12-2-1).
Montreal's revitalized power play put the home side ahead at 18:50 of the first period. P.K. Subban kept the puck from leaving the zone before lobbing it over to fellow defenseman Jeff Petry just inside the blue line on the left side. Petry aimed his shot toward Weise at the inner hashmarks and the winger put his stick in place for the perfect deflection.
It marked just the second road power-play goal the Islanders allowed this season.
Center John Tavares, who returned after missing three games because of illness, nearly got his team on the board with the man advantage early in the second. Uncovered and with an open cage to Condon's left, he sent the puck behind the netminder, but it went through the crease to the other side.
Okposo tied it at 3:35, moments after a power play expired. After taking the puck from Halak behind the Islanders' net, defenseman Johnny Boychuk sent a short pass to Okposo in his own end. Okposo skated down the ice along the left wing before cutting into the slot and beating Condon with a shot just outside the circle.
Desharnais put the Canadiens ahead 2-1 at 6:22 of the third period. Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu's clearing attempt slid down the left side and hit linesman Michel Cormier just outside the Islanders' zone. Left winger Tomas Fleischmann picked up the loose puck and took advantage of a sliding Nick Leddy before feeding Desharnais with a cross-ice pass from the goal line.
Gallagher's sixth of the season put Montreal up by a pair a minute and a half later. Center Tomas Plekanec dropped a pass for left winger Max Pacioretty along the right boards and Pacioretty skated to the top of the circle before snapping a shot that was deflected by Gallagher in front of Halak and trickled just past the goalie.
Plekanec finished off the scoring into an empty net at 17:57.
NOTES: New York G Jean-Francois Berube served as Jaroslav Halak's back-up for the second straight game while G Thomas Greiss was a healthy scratch. ... The Canadiens did not change their lineup, scratching RW Alexander Semin and D Jarred Tinordi. ... Montreal G Carey Price missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury. ... The game was the first of three meetings between the Canadiens and Islanders, all taking place within a 17-day span. ... The Islanders scratched RW Steve Bernier and LW Taylor Beck.