Uniondale, NY (Sports Network) – Dwayne Roloson stopped 38-of-39 shots and as the suddenly-hot New York Islanders shut down Montreal, 4-1, at Nassau Coliseum.
Blake Comeau, Michael Grabner, P.A. Parenteau and James Wisniewski tallied for the Islanders, who won their third straight game and have collected at least one point in five consecutive contests.
New York hasn’t won four games in succession since January 9-18.
Tomas Plekanec notched the lone goal while Carey Price surrendered four goals on 25 shots for the Canadiens, who stumbled to their sixth loss in eight tries.
New York took a 1-0 lead with 8:56 left in the first period as Rob Schremp hit Comeau up the middle, and the young forward charged ahead and beat Price on the backhand.
Grabner doubled the advantage when he gathered a loose puck deep in the Montreal zone, broke in alone, and scored to the forehand with 1:42 remaining in the second period.
Parenteau made it a three-goal edge just over two minutes into the third period, and Wisniewski’s power-play tally at 4:22 brought New York’s lead to 4-0.
The Habs finally cracked the scoreboard at 7:51 of the final stanza on Plekanec’s shot from the slot, but it was the only shot of the 15 Roloson faced in the final 20 minutes that slipped through.
Montreal has won six of its last eight on Long Island since November, 2007…The Islanders have not blanked the Canadiens since November 12, 1998…New York also won three in a row from October 16-21…The Islanders face the Rangers in Manhattan on Monday, while the Canadiens continue their seven-game road trip in Washington on Tuesday.