Monahan scores twice, Canadiens hang on for 4-3 win vs. Islanders in Roy's homecoming

New York Islanders' Jean-Gabriel Pageau (44) and Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault keep their eyes on the puck during second period NHL hockey action in Montreal, Thursday, January 25, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Sean Monahan scored twice as the Montreal Canadiens held off a late New York comeback and defeated the Islanders 4-3 in Patrick Roy’s homecoming on Thursday night.

After the Canadiens gave up a 3-1 lead, Monahan fired a one-timer into the Islanders net with 2:12 remaining to make it 4-3 Montreal.

Roy, a franchise icon who goaltended the Canadiens to Stanley Cups in 1986 and 1993, was hired as Islanders head coach on Saturday after over seven years away from the NHL.

He received a deafening ovation from the Bell Centre crowd when the Canadiens displayed a photo montage of their former netminder during "O Canada."

Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield had a goal and an assist each for Montreal (20-21-7), which snapped a three-game losing streak.

Sam Montembeault stopped 43 shots while also earning an assist on Monahan’s first goal.

Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat had a goal and assist each, Noah Dobson had three assists while Kyle Palmieri also scored for New York (20-17-11). The Islanders fell to 1-2-0 under their new coach.

Semyon Varlamov made 22 saves.

The Canadiens led 3-1 with nine minutes remaining in the third period when forward Brendan Gallagher caught Islanders defenceman Adam Pelech with an elbow to the head.

Gallagher received a five-minute major for the play, and Barzal and Palmieri scored on the ensuing power play to even the score with 3:32 left.

Monahan then scored to put Montreal back ahead and the Canadiens hung on despite a late Islanders push, which included a shot off the post from Horvat.

Roy was the main attraction entering the night, with fans sporting his jerseys and holding signs during warm-ups that read "Bon Retour 33," a shout-out to his No. 33 that hangs in the Bell Centre rafters.

The passionate Roy was his usual animated self on the Islanders bench — yelling and pointing to his players throughout the game.

Despite trying to keep the focus on winning in the lead-up, Roy had to use his timeout before it was 13 minutes old because the Canadiens jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

Suzuki tipped home a feed from Juraj Slafkovsky on the power play to open the scoring at 7:06 of the first period.

Caufield doubled Montreal’s lead at 11:36 by dancing around Varlamov for his 17th of the season after Suzuki picked off a mishandled puck from Sebastian Aho in the offensive zone. Caufield scored for the sixth time in seven outings and extended his points streak to eight games.

Just 43 seconds later, Mike Matheson rushed down the ice and laid a backhand pass into the slot for Monahan to score another power-play goal and make it 3-0, causing Roy to try and rally his players.

Earlier in the first, Montembeault made his best impression of Roy with back-to-back saves on Barzal and Anders Lee to keep the game scoreless.

New York poured in 18 shots to Montreal’s seven in the second period, but only got one goal back.

With the Canadiens already down a man, centre Jake Evans was called for holding the stick to give the Islanders a 5-on-3 for 1:18.

Horvat scored his 20th of the season 16 seconds into the two-man advantage to get New York on the board.

Canadiens defenceman David Savard prevented Horvat from adding another by blocking his shot toward a wide-open cage during a power play later in the period. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 25, 2024.