Montreal 6, NY Islanders 4
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 17, 2015
Where: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
Referees:
Kyle Rehman, Wes McCauley
Linesmen:
Michel Cormier, Derek Nansen
Attendance:
21287
By SportsDirect Inc.
Canadiens 6, Islanders 4: Tomas Plekanec collected two goals and two assists for his first four-point performance of the season as host Montreal posted its fifth win in six games versus New York.
David Desharnais scored and set up a goal while Dale Weise, Alex Galchenyuk and defenseman P.K. Subban each added a tally for the Canadiens, who also posted a 3-1 victory over the Islanders on Dec. 23. Defenseman Andrei Markov notched three assists and Dustin Tokarski turned aside 27 shots while making his second consecutive start for the first time since last season's playoffs.
Kyle Okposo followed up his four-goal performance in Friday's 6-3 triumph over Pittsburgh by scoring midway into the second period and added an assist for New York, which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end. Captain John Tavares recorded a goal and an assist while Nikolay Kulemin and Anders Lee also tallied.
Montreal scored early in each of the first two periods as Markov faked a shot from the point and set up Subban's one-timer in the left faceoff circle during a power play at 1:56 of the first before Weise tapped in Plekanec's centering feed 10 seconds into the second. Okposo answered midway through the session by cleaning up a loose puck that deflected off Tavares' skate to halve the deficit.
Plekanec followed a faceoff win by unleashing a one-timer from above the right circle that beat former Canadien Jaroslav Halak (27 saves) during a man advantage with 5:44 left in the second to give Montreal a 3-1 lead. Brock Nelson took out a pair of defenders to allow Kulemin to skate in and beat Tokarski two minutes later, but Galchenyuk benefited from a broken play and squeezed a shot past Halak 52 seconds into the third to restore the two-goal advantage.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Montreal LW Max Pacioretty notched two assists but failed in his bid to become the first member of the team to record a goal in seven consecutive contests since Denis Savard's nine-game run from Feb. 7-March 1, 1991. ... Desharnais picked off a pass and beat Halak over his shoulder at 11:16 of the third period to increase the lead to 5-2 for Montreal, which improved to 11-2-1 against Metropolitan Division representatives. ... New York LW Josh Bailey, who notched two assists, has set up five goals in his last two games after registering just eight assists in his first 31 contests.
Top Game Performances
| NY Islanders |
|
Montreal |
|
Kyle Okposo 2 |
Points |
Tomas Plekanec 4 |
|
Kyle Okposo 1 |
Goals |
Tomas Plekanec 2 |
|
Josh Bailey 2 |
Assists |
Andrei Markov 3 |
|
John Tavares 1 |
Power Play Goals |
Tomas Plekanec 1 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Chad Johnson 1.000 |
Save Percentage |
Dustin Tokarski .871 |
|
Jaroslav Halak 27 |
Saves |
Dustin Tokarski 27 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| NY Islanders
|
31 |
4 |
1-3 |
2-4 |
13 |
30 |
| Montreal
|
35 |
6 |
2-4 |
2-3 |
11 |
37 |
Upcoming Games
-
Montreal will play their next game at home against Nashville. The Canadiens have a W/L % of .667 after a win and .588 after a loss.
-
NY Islanders will play their next game at home against Philadelphia. The Islanders have a W/L % of .733 after a win and .533 after a loss.
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