MONTREAL — So far, this season has been one step forward, two steps back for the Islanders.
While the team's current goal of treading water until healthy is as modest as it is, getting back to NHL .500 will require racking up a few wins, something the Islanders have done time and time again. It's something I've struggled with as well.
It's a cliché that no game is easy, but Tuesday night's matchup with the Eastern Conference-worst Canadiens was just about the chance the Islanders had hoped to build on Saturday's win over Buffalo. It was the same.
Instead, they would go home as 2-1 losers on Nick Suzuki's overtime game-winning goal after a lackluster third period, but at least the period wasn't a blowout.
“It sucks,” said Bo Horvat, who blocked Suzuki's first shot with his skates, but the puck bounced off Suzuki, who made the shot 2:39 into overtime. “I think I was in the right position to get the rebound, and it just gave me quite a hop and ended up getting it to the back of the hoop.”
The defense-first, forecheck-heavy, low-event hockey the Islanders have been playing regularly lately is necessary with two of the team's best offensive players in Matt Barzal and Anthony Duclair among the injured. It may be essential. But that sometimes makes them look like a team that doesn't have a lot of ideas for scoring, and Tuesday fell into that category.
It didn't hurt that Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeau put on a show in front of Habs goaltending legend Patrick Roy, finishing with 30 saves.
With the Islanders looking to score on a power play in the second period, Montembeault hit Brock Nelson with consecutive stones on a tight chance.
He then made a diving save from Max Tsyplakov and managed to grab a rebound from Jean-Gabriel Pageau. All that was missing was a wink at the camera.
Anders Lee finally got one point for Montembeau at 18:55 on his second off his own rebound, with a header to tie the game at 1 going into the third.
But even with the score tied in the third, the Islanders played armadillo hockey, curling up in a ball and trying to avoid damage.
This is a tough game to win, but that lesson doesn't seem to have been learned. And any thoughts that the Islanders would gain confidence in the final 20 minutes after holding the lead Saturday were gone.
Spending almost the entire third period in the defensive zone, the Islanders limited their shots but didn't give them many chances to take control.
“Sometimes the team puts pressure on you,” Simon Holmstrom said. “You have to do everything you can to defend it. I thought we did a good job. We didn't give them too many dangerous scoring chances, but we still have to push back. No.”
Loser points keep the NHL sub-.500 games, but what kind of silver lining is that when the Islanders have to defend two points against a basement-dwelling opponent?
Ilya Sorokin, who had been strong all night, put his body on the line to stop Mike Matheson's 3-on-3, but Suzuki scored right after that and the Islanders couldn't capitalize.
There was little action early on in the game, and the loudest cheer at the Bell Center was not for Patrick Roy, who was returning for a second time as Islanders coach, but for Patrick, who was playing in his first game as a Canadian.・It was prepared for Rain.
Laine scored his second goal at 7:23 with a power-play shot past Sorokin for a 1-0 lead, earning a standing ovation from the typically raucous Montreal crowd.
This special teams poor performance seemed more like a problem with the opposing team's excellent goaltending and Laine's great play than anything else.
But for islanders, it's still a familiar story.
Even the usually optimistic Roy could admit it.
“I thought their goalie made a good save.” [on the power play]” he said. “I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately. We need to find a way to get that behind the goal line.”
