Islanders recover, defeat Canadiens in 9-round shootout

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Noah Dobson scored in the ninth round of the shootout, and the New York Islanders won 4-3 against the Montreal Canadiens at UBS Arena on Saturday.

Dobson beat Cayden Primeau over the glove from the low slot for his first NHL shootout goal.

“Finally. One for five now in the career,” Dobson said. “So, I’m trending in the right direction. It felt good. Obviously, it’s not the most common spot for us defensemen, but as we were getting down the line, we’re getting ready, and you just try to make the most of the opportunity.”

Dobson had two assists and Semyon Varlamov made 21 saves for the Islanders (2-1-2).

“You got to stay focused the entire game. Overall, we played very well today,” Varlamov said. “We created a lot of chances. I thought we created more scoring chances than they did. I think they only had two scoring chances in the third period. Unfortunately, they scored at the end. That’s kind of a bummer. It is what it is.”

Cole Caufield scored twice, Logan Mailloux scored his first NHL goal and Juraj Slafkovsky had two assists for the Canadiens (2-3-1). Primeau made 33 saves.

“I'm very proud of the way we conducted ourselves,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “I thought we had a pretty good first period, and you find yourself trailing 2-0. It was a big goal at the end of the first to get that. And I felt we deserved that. … We defended really well ... I thought we played a gusty road game.”

Anders Lee scored off a Jean-Gabriel Pageau rebound to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead at 15:24 of the third period. Adam Pelech fed Pageau in the neutral zone, leading to the 2-on-1 rush chance.

Caufield beat Varlamov blocker side through a screen from inside the left dot at 17:50 to tie the game 3-3.

“Sometimes there's good bounces, and I've learned there are stretches of good and there's stretches of kind of unlucky hockey,” Caufield said. So, I’m just keeping my head level right now. Obviously, our team game needs to improve, and we all know that we expect more from ourselves, but I liked what we brought tonight. There are some things we can work on. But I thought everybody played a pretty good game tonight.”

Bo Horvat gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead on the power play at 14:32 of the first period. Mathew Barzal faked a shot atop the left circle before finding Horvat, who buried a one-timer from the slot past Primeau’s glove.

Kyle Palmieri extended the Islanders’ lead to 2-0 at 16:58, beating Primeau high blocker side from inside the right dot.

Caufield pulled the Canadiens to 2-1 at 19:56 on the power play, scoring from a sharp angle after his centering pass was blocked and the puck bounced back to him.

Mailloux tied the game at 2-2 when he beat Varlamov glove side from the slot 59 seconds into the second period. From the left corner, Jake Evans found Mailloux alone in the slot.

The Islanders could not score on a power play in overtime and were 1-for-6 on the man-advantage for the game.

“There was a lot of drama in that game,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “It was 2-0, and they tied it at 2-2 in the [second]. We had plenty of power-play chances to seal the deal. Both teams were fighting back and forth, and they tied the game, and we had our chances 4-on-3. We hit the post in overtime and one in the shootout. It was a hard-fought game for both teams. I don’t know if it was an exciting game for you guys and the fans, but it was exciting for me.”

NOTES: Islanders forward Anthony Duclair left the game at 3:19 of the third period. He could not put weight on his right leg after getting tangled in the slot. There was no update following the game. … Caufield has five goals in six games. … Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki has points in four straight (five assists). ... Dobson has four assists in five games.