ELMONT, N.Y. — Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist to pass the 100-point mark for the season and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the New York Islanders 4-1 on Sunday, eliminating them from playoff contention.
Ivan Demidov, Alex Newhook and Zack Bolduc also scored for Montreal, which continues its push for home-ice advantage in the opening round and a potential Atlantic Division title. Jacob Fowler made 30 saves, and defenseman Lane Hutson added three assists.
Casey Cizikas scored for New York and Ilya Sorokin stopped 18 shots, but the Islanders lost for the sixth time in their past seven games to fall out of postseason contention.
A late-season coaching change in which New York replaced Patrick Roy with Pete DeBoer has resulted in a 1-2 record so far, with the season finale Tuesday vs. the Carolina Hurricanes. The Islanders had lost five in a row before DeBoer’s arrival.
“That’s what a good team does to you, it exposes you,” DeBoer said of the Canadiens. “We didn’t make a lot of mistakes, defensively, tonight. I thought we battled pretty hard. But when we did [make mistakes], they capitalized.”
Montreal broke the game open late in the second period, scoring three goals in a 55-second span. Suzuki opened the scoring with his 29th goal of the season, reaching the 100-point mark for the first time in his career.
“It’s hard to win in this league with one goal,” DeBoer said. “We’ve got to find a way to convert some of the opportunities that we’re getting into goals. We didn’t really do that this weekend, at all.”
Demidov made it 2-0 just 28 seconds later, finishing a one-timer from Suzuki’s feed on the power play. It was Suzuki’s 72nd assist.
Newhook capped the surge at 16:51 of the second with a wrist shot on a two-on-one rush.
Cizikas redirected a shot from Scott Mayfield to spoil Fowler’s shutout bid midway through the third period.
“It’s definitely tough,” Cizikas said of the elimination. “You compete so hard with these guys all year. You put yourselves in such a good spot, and you kind of let it slip away.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
