Brock Nelson scored two goals to help the New York Islanders clinch a playoff berth with a 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday in Elmont, N.Y.
Hudson Fasching and captain Anders Lee also tallied and Ilya Sorokin made 17 saves for the Islanders (42-31-9, 93 points), who won three of their final four games to move into the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Noah Dobson logged two assists.
New York holds a one-point lead over the Florida Panthers (42-31-8, 92 points), who oppose the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday in their regular-season finale in Sunrise, Fla.
The Islanders’ win eliminated the Pittsburgh Penguins (40-31-10, 90 points) from postseason contention.
Rem Pitlick and captain Nick Suzuki each scored a goal and Sam Montembeault turned aside 31 shots for the Canadiens (31-44-6, 68 points), who have lost six of their past seven games.
Montreal forged a 1-1 tie before Fasching replied just 79 seconds later, poking home a loose puck with 1:03 remaining in the first period. The goal was Fasching’s 10th of the season and third in as many games.
Nelson doubled the advantage after his deflection in the slot beat Montembeault at 10:20 of the second period. Nelson’s second goal of the night and team-leading 36th of the season was his fourth in his past four games.
With his team short-handed, Suzuki beat Islanders defenseman Samuel Bolduc to a puck and handcuffed Sorokin to trim New York’s lead to 3-2 with 3:22 remaining in the second period. The goal was Suzuki’s 25th of the season.
With the Islanders on a power play, Lee deflected a shot from the point to give New York a 4-2 lead with four minutes to play in the third period. The goal was Lee’s 28th of the season and first since March 21.
Midway through the first period, Kyle Palmieri skated through the neutral zone and fed Nelson just before the latter entered the offensive zone. Nelson created space before wristing a shot from the left circle that beat Montembeault to open the scoring at 10:26.
Pitlick unleashed a one-timer from a sharp angle deep in the right circle to level the contest with 2:22 remaining in the first. The goal was Pitlick’s sixth of the season and first since March 16.
–Field Level Media
