The Montreal Canadiens and New York Islanders have a long history thanks to the trading of dynasties in the last century. The Canadiens won four straight Stanley Cups from 1976 to 1979, and the Islanders accomplished the same feat from 1980 to 1983. The Canadiens and Islanders played four playoff series against each other, with their most recent coming before the Habs' last championship in 1993.
The Canadiens own the edge in the all-time rivalry, as they have a record of 112-71-15-5. The teams played once so far this season, with the Islanders winning a thrilling 4-3 game in the ninth round of the shootout. The Islanders current head coach is legendary Canadiens goaltender Patrick Roy.
Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri took a 2-0 lead for the Islanders, before Cole Caufield and Logan Mailloux evened the game at two. Anders Lee and Caufield traded goals in the third, and then the teams went on an epic shootout. The shootout had five goals scored, with rookies Oliver Kapanen and Emil Heineman getting the goals for Montreal. However, Noah Dobson scored the winner in the ninth round.
Canadiens-Islanders Playoff History
The Canadiens ran through the 1976 playoffs, with the Islanders being the only team able to win a game against them. They won in five games against the Islanders in the semi-final, while the swept the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canadiens defeated the Islanders again in 1977, but this time it took them six games to do it. It was the same story for that postseason, as the Islanders were the only team to win games against the Canadiens.
The Islanders finally defeated the Canadiens in a playoff series in 1984, which was after their four-straight Stanley Cups. New York thought they were on their way to another win that year, but came up short of their record-tying fifth straight.
The Canadiens got revenge in 1993 in another conference finals, on their way to their most recent Stanley Cup Championship.
Canadiens-Islanders Notable Trades
The most recent important trade between these teams was the Alexander Romanov deal that sent him to the Islanders for the 13th overall pick.
The historic trade between the franchises was when the Canadiens sent Kirk Muller, Craig Dirby, and Mathieu Schneider to the Islanders for Pierre Turgeon and Vladimir Malakhov.