Max Pacioretty scored a hat trick and Carey Price made 31 saves as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the New York Islanders 4-2 on Thursday night.

Scott Gomez - with his first goal in more than a calendar year - also scored for the Canadiens, who won their third straight game.

Matt Moulson and Mark Streit scored 48 seconds apart in the final three minutes of the third period to pull the Islanders to within 3-2.

Pacioretty completed his hat trick into an empty net with one second left to play.

"It was great to get the hat trick and it was great to do it with my parents and friends here, but we still have a lot of work to do here if we're going to make the playoffs," said Pacioretty, who grew up in nearby New Canaan, Conn., and had a halfdozen family members at the game.

While Pacioretty was happy to score the three goals, he said his biggest smile of the night came after Gomez scored in the third period to end a goal drought that stretched back to Feb. 5, 2011.

"It was nice to see him get the monkey off his back."

Said Gomez: "It's nice to score; it's been a long time. The most important thing is that we got two points. We have to win every game. Scoring goals is good, but you play games to win."