Matheson, Canadiens end skid with OT win against Islanders

MONTREAL --Mike Matheson scored at 4:38 of overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Matheson scored on the rebound of a shot by Mike Hoffman, who skated in on a breakaway after exiting the penalty box. Matheson started the play by passing up to Hoffman after Mathew Barzal turned the puck over in the offensive zone.
"I put a great pass in his feet and made him deal with it," Matheson said. "No, that was a great pickup by him and I just tried to get into the rush. I wasn't sure what he was going to do with it and it ended up popping out to me. I just tried to make contact with the puck."

Most of the Islanders had gone to their locker room before a lengthy video review was initiated and ultimately determined that Hoffman was onside prior to his goal.
"It was extremely deflating twice, I guess," Islanders coach Lane Lambert said.
Sam Montembeault made 27 saves for Montreal (21-27-4), which tied the game twice in the third period and ended a four-game losing streak (0-3-1).
The Canadiens were playing their first game since Jan. 31.
"I was actually really happy with the effort today," Montembeault said. "That was their fourth game after the break and that was our first, but that didn't show. I think we played with intensity and with pace for 60 minutes. I gave up a little bit of a bad goal at the end of the second, but we didn't get down. We came back in the third, I mean, we came back twice."
Brock Nelson had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games, and Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves for the Islanders (27-23-6), who have lost two straight after winning their previous four.
"I think we've got to do a better job, especially playing with the lead," New York defenseman Noah Dobson said. "We've got to be smarter the way we manage pucks, closing quicker on guys. We gave them a little too much time and space to get some movement, and obviously that wasn't good enough."

Justin Barron scored his first of the season to tie it 2-2 at 4:02 of the third period. He skated down the slot all alone as the trailer on a rush and beat Varlamov high blocker side.
Matt Martin put the Islanders back in front 3-2 at 10:54 when he deflected Alexander Romanov's wrist shot from the left point between Montembeault's right pad and the left post.
Kirby Dach tied it 3-3 with 3:16 remaining in the third period when he got inside position on Adam Pelech and redirected Matheson's shot five-hole on Varlamov.
The Islanders, who controlled the puck for most of overtime, had seven shot attempts during the power play, but only two made it on net.
"They blocked a heck of a lot of shots and their goalie made key saves at key times," New York forward Bo Horvat said. "It's not like we didn't have our looks or our opportunities. We just couldn't find the back of the net there."
Nick Suzuki gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 12:57 of the first, one-timing a cross-crease pass from Rafael Harvey-Pinard into an open net.

Nelson tied it 1-1 at 15:01, putting his stick between his legs to redirect Dobson's slap pass from the point inside the left post. He has 12 points (six goals, six assists) during his point streak.
Horvat scored a power-play goal with five seconds remaining in the second period to put the Islanders ahead 2-1. His shot from below the goal line in the corner went under Montembeault's stick blade and into the net off his left pad.
"I think we still played really well and still limited their opportunities," Horvat said. "It's just sometimes you've got to tip your hat."
NOTES: Horvat has scored three goals in four games with the Islanders. … Nelson's point streak is the longest by an Islanders player since Josh Bailey had an 11-game point streak from Dec. 9-31, 2017. … Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin returned after missing seven games with an upper-body injury. … Montreal is 1-6-1 when wearing their powder blue Reverse Retro uniforms this season.