MONTREAL — Patrick Roy didn’t want his first game back at Bell Centre as Islanders coach to be about him. Other than a stirring moment during the Canadian national anthem, it wasn’t. Thursday night was about the home team’s quick start and his team’s comeback bid.
The Islanders scored twice on a five-minute power play in the third period but lost 4-3 on Sean Monahan’s winner at 17:48. Monahan’s goal came off a turnover by Pierre Engvall, his second of the night that led to a goal. Cole Caufield took it away from him at the half wall, fed Josh Anderson cross ice who gave it Monahan for the winner, his second of the night.
Mathew Barzal brought the Islanders within 3-2 at 14:52 of the third period after Brendan Gallagher received a match penalty for his illegal hit to the head of Adam Pelech in the neutral zone. With the major penalty continuing, Kyle Palmieri scored at 16:28 to tie it.
Gallagher’s predatory hit has to spark concerns of another head injury for Pelech.
The Islanders (20-17-11) have lost two of their first three under Roy.
Semyon Varlamov made 22 saves in his first start since Jan. 2 after missing time with a lower-body injury. Samuel Montembeault stopped 44 shots for the Canadiens (20-21-7), who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Roy’s name was not announced as the Islanders coach after the starting lineup was presented to the crowd. But as Cherylyn Toca began to sing the Canadian national anthem, the scoreboard began showing a montage of photos from Roy’s playing career with Le Blue-blanc-rouge. The crowd began roaring in appreciation, getting louder as the camera then fixated on Roy’s retired jersey hanging from the ceiling.
Finally, the camera showed Roy standing on the Islanders’ bench and the crowd got even louder. Eventually, Roy was moved to give a slight wave before starting to give directions to his players.
It was the first time Roy, who split his first two games with the Islanders after replacing the fired Lane…
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