NY Islanders eliminated from playoff contention after 4-1 loss to Montreal

The New York Islanders’ post-season hopes came to a painful end Sunday night.

The Islanders were eliminated from playoff contention with a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at UBS Arena, dropping their sixth game in the last seven at the worst possible time.

“It's a disappointing finish to what was going pretty good for quite a while this year,” Anders Lee said. “We put everything we could to making this happen and to pushing ourselves in the playoffs. We faltered in some moments down the stretch here.”

Casey Cizikas scored the lone goal for New York, while Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves. The game remained tight through much of the first half before unraveling quickly in the second period.

Nick Suzuki opened the scoring with his 29th goal of the season, reaching the 100-point mark for the first time in his career. From there, the Islanders’ night slipped away in a matter of seconds.

Ivan Demidov made it 2-0 just 28 seconds later on the power play, finishing a one-timer off a Suzuki feed. Alex Newhook capped a stunning three-goal burst with 16:51 left in the period, converting on a two-on-one rush to extend the lead to 3-0.

The Canadiens scored three times in just 55 seconds to seize control.

“That was the game,” Head Coach Peter DeBoer said of the 55-second stretch. “That's what a good team does to you. They expose you. We didn't make a lot of mistakes defensively tonight. I thought we battled pretty hard, but when we did, they, they capitalized.”

New York pushed in the third period and broke up the shutout when Cizikas redirected a point shot from Scott Mayfield midway through the frame. But the Islanders couldn’t generate sustained offense against Jacob Fowler, who finished with 30 saves.

Zachary Bolduc added a goal as Montreal continued its push for playoff positioning.

The Isles finish their season on Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes