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Hunter, Satan score twice as Islanders overcome Canadiens

Feb 3, 2007 - 11:46 PM MONTREAL (Ticker) -- Trent Hunter and the New York Islanders both kept positive streaks intact at the expense of the Montreal Canadiens.

Hunter scored a pair of goals and the Islanders continued to pick up points each time out with a 4-2 victory over the Canadiens.

Montreal had a 2-1 lead after two periods but could not keep Hunter off the scoreboard, resulting in its third loss in four games.

"I'm extremely disgusted," Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said. "There's no excuse. To win in the NHL, you have to work. I don't think we had a good second period. We were soft, made bad passes. We were lucky to be up 2-1 after two."

Montreal's luck ran out as Hunter knotted the game just 95 seconds into the third session. Less than 10 minutes later, he gave the Islanders the lead for good, one-timing a loose puck from the left faceoff circle past All-Star goaltender Cristobal Huet.

A finalist for the Calder Trophy in 2004, Hunter has tallied in four of the Islanders' last five contests and extended his points streak to six games.

"It feels great," Hunter said. "It's always nice to see those pucks go in. It's just nice to contribute as much as possible. I think we've been trying to do that all year, play tight in the third, play defensively and try and create some turnovers off the forecheck and capitalize on our opportunities, and we were able to do that tonight."

Miroslav Satan netted New York's other two goals. He opened the scoring just 1:44 into the contest and scored off a turnover less than two minutes after Hunter's second tally to make it 4-2.

Rick DiPietro made 28 saves for New York, which has earned at least one point in each of its last six games, going 4-0-2.

"Montreal is known to be a great home team, so to come up here and win is great," DiPietro said. "We put forward a great effort and we were rewarded for it. The defense played really well. There were no gaps and a lot of back pressure to help."

"Ricky has been one of the most important players for us all season long," Islanders coach Ted Nolan said. "They had numerous good chances to score and he kept us in the game. He gave us the opportunity to fight back in the third."

Radek Bonk scored in the first period and defenseman Mark Streit tallied with 2:47 left in the second period for Montreal, which has lost six of its last nine contests.

""We're in a playoff race, it's not October or November," Carbonneau said. "Why are they ready and we're not? These are points that we need. You have to live on instinct. We're thinking too much and we're slow to react."