Scott Gomez end drought as Montreal Canadiens glide past New York Islanders 4-2 -NHL Update
Montreal is confident and hope for the best when their asked about their chances of making the playoffs, which certainly showed as the Canadiens glided to a smooth, 4-2, victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night, February 9, 2012, at the Nassau
Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, United States.
Veteran Montreal centre, Scott Gomez, finally finished his yearlong goal drought by potting in the third of the night during the final 20 minutes of regulation, a sign that some players were working hard to get back in action.
"I wasn't feeling sorry for myself, I've just kept working," said Gomez. "It's certainly good to get a win, and of course it's great to finally score."
"It's good because we won," Gomez added. "Hey, it's nice to score. It's been a long time. The most important thing is we got the two points. Before, we'd probably find a way to give these points up. We'll take these two points. We've just got to keep it
going. The guys in here definitely believe. Our backs are against the wall, but we're going to try and make it interesting."
Max Pacioretty also showed himself as a leader with the young forward getting his first career National Hockey League (NHL) hat trick, which ultimately led the Canadiens to a well deserved victory.
He kicked off the scoring for his 20th in the opening minutes of the first period while adding another nearly midway through the third before Gomez made the third straight on a power play opportunity, making it 3-0 with 10:10 remaining in regulation.
Carey Price had a tremendous performance in the net for Montreal as he had completely shutout New York Islanders for 50 minutes before letting go on two goals for a total of 31 saves made.
Matt Moulson and Mark Streit tried bringing New York back with two goals nearly a minute apart but Pacioretty capped it off with his empty netter with a second remaining.
Montreal Canadiens have now won three straight and hope for a fourth when they face Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday while New York Islanders host Los Angeles Kings.
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