Carey Price made 28 saves for the shutout as the Montreal Canadiens earned a 4-0 win over the visiting New York Islanders on Thursday.

The victory keeps Montreal (39-28-7, 85 points) in the hunt for an Eastern Conference wild-card berth. By contrast, the Islanders missed a chance to narrow the three-point gap separating them from the first-place Washington Capitals in the Metropolitan Division.

The Islanders (42-25-7, 91 points) were blanked for the second consecutive game following Tuesday's 5-0 loss to the Bruins. Goals have been hard to find for New York in March, as the Islanders have scored just 21 times in 11 games this month.

Jordan Eberle had probably the Islanders' best scoring chance of the game at 5:33 of the second period but was robbed by Price on a highlight-reel save.

Price collected his 31st win and fourth shutout of the season as the Canadiens star continues to make a late-season case for a second Vezina Trophy (also won in 2014-15 season). Over his last five games, Price has a sparking 1.21 goals-against average and .958 save percentage.

Joel Armia, Jonathan Drouin and Jordan Weal each had a goal and an assist.

Armia had gone eight games without a point before converting a power-play goal with just seven seconds remaining in the first period. It was a rare bit of special-teams magic for the Canadiens, who entered Thursday ranked last in the NHL in power-play percentage.

That late first-period goal set the table for a big second frame for Montreal. Shea Weber, Drouin and Weal all scored within the first 8:19 of the second period, chasing Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss from the game.

Greiss allowed four goals on 22 shots, a setback after being named the NHL's First Star for the week of March 11-17. Robin Lehner saved all 12 shots faced in the relief effort.

Drouin's goal marked the end of a long offensive drought for the center. After scoring twice on Feb. 7, Drouin didn't find the back of the net for his next 17 games, going without a point in 16 of those games.

--Field Level Media