Rookie Anthony Beauvillier scored in the first period, Thomas Greiss made 24 saves, and the New York Islanders beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 Thursday night.
Anders Lee scored in the second period and John Tavares added an empty-netter in the final minute to seal the Islanders' third straight win. New York has won the first two games on a crucial nine-game road swing and improved to 12-4-2 since interim coach Doug Weight replaced the fired Jack Capuano.
Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson each had two assists, and Greiss got his third shutout of the season.
Carey Price finished with 21 saves as the Canadiens lost coach Claude Julien's 1,000th NHL game. Montreal is 1-2-0 since Julien replaced Michel Therrien last week and has totaled just 14 goals while going 2-7-1 in the last 10 games, including four shutouts.
The Islanders owned the puck early and got the opening goal when Brock Nelson fed Beauvillier, who is from nearby Sorel-Tracy and was playing in Montreal for the first time, on the left side for a shot that beat Price to the near post at 5:28.
Lee made it 2-0 at 5:58 of the second when he sneaked behind Alexei Emelin to take a pass from Bailey and score his 23rd of the season with a nifty shot from in close.
Montreal had a goal disallowed at 6:50 of the third when both Tomas Plekanec and Paul Byron reached for the puck with high sticks on a shot by Shea Weber. Another was waived off at 7:46 because Artturi Lehkonen put it in with a hand.
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NOTES: The Islanders were without C Casey Cizikas (upper body) and RW Cal Clutterbuck (lower body), who were injured in a 3-1 win Tuesday over Detroit. ... New York won consecutive road games for the first time this season. ... Julien got a standing ovation from the sellout crowd during a video segment in the first period honoring his milestone game. ... Price remained tied with Ken Dryden with 258 career wins, third all-time on the Canadiens. ... Montreal has not won back to back games since Jan. 3 and Jan. 7.
UP NEXT
Islanders: At Columbus on Saturday.
Canadiens: At Toronto on Saturday night.
