Goaltender Jaroslav Halak has been solid for Montreal despite losing two of his last three games. Goaltender Jaroslav Halak has been solid for Montreal despite losing two of his last three games. (Nick Wass/Associated Press)

The Montreal Canadiens will be without No. 1 goaltender Carey Price on Thursday night as they look to gain some separation on the idle Florida Panthers.

Price has been felled by a bug going around the team, putting him out of circulation for the game against the New York Islanders. Price had returned to previous form of late, allowing just six goals in the last four games, during which the Canadiens gained seven points.

Montreal (39-27-10) is playing the first of four road games among its last six season contests. The Canadiens will visit Toronto on Saturday night (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 7 p.m. ET).

The Habs are just one point ahead of Florida for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but have a game in hand. The Panthers have home games Friday against Atlanta and Sunday against Pittsburgh.

Marc Denis was recalled early Thursday to join Jaroslav Halak as Montreal's two goalies to dress against the Islanders.

Denis, a veteran of 349 career NHL games, has played just 20 minutes for the Canadiens this season. The 31-year-old has appeared in 41 games for Hamilton in the American Hockey League.

Halak, who helped carry the Canadiens when Price struggled badly in January and February, has lost his last two starts. Halak hasn't played since allowing five goals in a March 21 home loss against Toronto.

Habs power play revives

Montreal is coming off an impressive 4-1 win over Chicago on Tuesday. Guillaume Latendresse scored his fourth goal in six games, while the power play clicked with two goals.

The Canadiens will look to make it five consecutive games with at least one power-play marker.

While the likes of Alex Tanguay, Alexei Kovalev and Saku Koivu have been spurring the offence up front, Tomas Plekanec is again cold, and hasn't scored in seven games.

While the Islanders dwell in the NHL basement, they've taken both games this season against Montreal at Bell Centre. The Canadiens won the previous contest at Nassau Coliseum.

New York (25-42-9) is playing for the second time in as many nights. The Islanders blew leads of 2-0 and 3-2 in Wednesday's loss to Washington.

The Capitals scored three times in the final 10 minutes of the third in the 5-3 win. Rookie Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen and Richard Park scored for New York, with Joey MacDonald making 38 saves in net.

The Islanders have given up 33.3 shots per game, second-worst in the NHL to Florida.