Brock Nelson scored a career-high four goals to lead the New York Islanders to a 6-2 victory over the host Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
The Islanders are on a six-game (4-0-2) points streak, with all of those games coming away from home. With their new arena still under construction, the Islanders are in the midst of a 13-game road trip to begin the season.
Anthony Beauvillier matched a career best with three assists, recording helpers on Nelson’s first three goals.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau had a goal and an assist, and Zach Parise had two assists for his first points as a member of the Islanders. Oliver Wahlstrom also scored for New York as part of a four-goal second period.
Nelson scored two of his goals during his team’s big second frame. The forward also opened the scoring 4:41 into the game on a nice passing play with Kyle Palmieri, then added an empty-net goal in the final minute of the third period.
Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, and Tyler Toffoli added a power-play goal. Both of Montreal’s scores came in the final five minutes of play.
Apart from that late surge, the Canadiens mostly looked overmatched on Thursday, and received boos from the home fans at the end of the final two periods.
The Canadiens are off to a 3-9-0 start this season, and rank near the bottom of the league in both goals scored (24) and allowed (40).
Montreal’s shaky defense was a cure for the Islanders’ struggling offense, as New York had only 17 goals in its first seven games.
While the Habs outshot the Islanders by a 38-35 margin, they were lacking in true scoring chances, and New York goaltender Ilya Sorokin erased the Habs’ few good opportunities. Sorokin stopped 36 of 38 shots, including a huge save on a Christian Dvorak breakaway late in the second period.
Habs goalie Jake Allen allowed five goals on 25 shots, and was pulled after two periods. Backup Sam Montembeault stopped all 10 shots faced in the third frame.
–Field Level Media