After a deflating 5-2 loss on Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Montreal Canadiens hit the road to try and get back on track. There was only two regular season games left and the road trip began against the New York Islanders on Sunday night.
However, they entered the game knowing they were going to be without one of their key players, Noah Dobson. The defenseman suffered an upper-body injury against the Blue Jackets that will keep him out at least two weeks, which means he could miss at least the first few games of the playoffs.
Even being down one of their top players, the Canadiens were able to cruise to a 4-1 win over the Islanders and keep their home-ice dreams alive. These are some of the top takeaways from the game on Sunday night.
David Reinbacher makes his NHL debut in place of Noah Dobson
While it is exciting, it is never easy to make your NHL debut, and it makes it even tougher when it is late in the season and your team is in a tough playoff race. However, David Reinbacher was able to do just that and looked really good in his first NHL game.
Reinbacher was the fifth overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and made his debut next to Arber Xhekaj as the Canadiens' third defensive pair. He finished the game with 18 shifts and 11:17 of ice time with a +/- of +1 while also recording his first career point with an assist on Alex Newhook's goal.
For a young player to make his debut in this situation, he delivered a performance that is worth another look on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Flyers. If he continues to play at this level, then Martin St. Louis might not have any choice but to get him in the lineup for the playoffs.
Nick Suzuki with his 100th (and 101st) points this season
It was a slow start to the game for the Canadiens, and this isn't overly surprising, coming off a game the night prior and missing a big part of their lineup. However, in the second period, they were able to take the game over and scored three goals in less than a minute.
The catalyst for that run was captain Nick Suzuki, who would score the first goal of the game and that would be his 100th point on the season. He is the first Montreal Canadiens player to have 100 or more points in a season since 1985-86 when Mats Naslund broke the 100-point mark.
This has been a special season for the Canadiens, with Cole Caufield reaching 50 goals and now Suzuki breaking 100 points. The fact that these players are accomplishing these things at this point in their careers just shows how bright the future is for the Montreal Canadiens.
Jacob Fowler with an impressive performance in net
Jakub Dobes surprisingly struggled against the Blue Jackets as he allowed five or more goals for the first time since January 1st, 2026. He has been on an incredible run, and this shouldn't change anything for him being the starter for Game 1 of the playoffs.
The good news is that if, for some reason, Dobes struggles, they can turn to Jacob Fowler with some confidence in the playoffs as he continues to play well. On Sunday night, he stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced and had a shutout going into the third period.
Since returning from Laval, Fowler has gone 5-2 and in those seven starts allowed two or fewer goals in five of them.
Montreal Canadiens keep division title hopes alive with win
The loss on Saturday night really hurt the Montreal Canadiens' chances to win the Atlantic Division, and a loss on Sunday to the Islanders would have all but guaranteed they would not win. After the win, the Canadiens are now tied in points with the Buffalo Sabres, but the Sabres now have one game in hand as well as the tiebreaker in regulation wins.
For the Canadiens to win the Atlantic Division, the Sabres would need to lose both of their final games and the Tampa Bay Lightning lose at least one, with the Canadiens also winning against the Flyers on Tuesday.
While the division is still possible, it is a longshot but Montreal can still secure home-ice advantage by finishing second. That is still probably going to require a win over the Flyers, but in what would likely be a first-round meeting with the Lightning, home ice would be huge for this team and their chances to advance.