The New York Islanders defeated the Montreal Canadiens at home last night, winning 4-3 in a nine-round shootout.
For the first time this season, the Islanders made a lineup change coming into the game, with Julien Gauthier slotting in on the fourth line in place of Oliver Wahlstrom. Wahlstrom had gone pointless across the first four games with a minus-two rating, and got just 8:30 in ice time against St. Louis. Meanwhile, Semyon Varlamov got the start.
First Period
The Canadiens came out with a stronger opening frame, and had some chances from Joel Armia and Juraj Slafkovsky early. However, it was the Islanders who struck first, when Bo Horvat one-timed a great pass from Mathew Barzal on the first power play of the game past Cayden Primeau.
Then under three minutes later, Kyle Palmieri drove down the wing to beat Primeau with a great wrist shot, putting the Islanders up by two.
However, Maxim Tsyplakov took a penalty with just 10 seconds to go in the frame, and while it meant the Canadiens would likely carry the man advantage over to the second period, they managed to capitalize in the little time they had remaining. Right off the faceoff, the puck got to Cole Caufield down low, and while his initial shot was blocked by Ryan Pulock, the puck came right back to him, and he beat Varlamov. Despite the 2-1 lead through 20 minutes, it wasn’t necessarily a great opening frame for New York.
Second Period
Then only a minute into the second frame, Josh Anderson narrowly missed a tap-in on a great pass from Jake Evans, but the play continued, and Logan Mailloux beat Varlamov with a great shot, quickly tying the game. Cole Caufield then had a great opportunity to give Montreal the lead about five minutes later on a breakaway, but he was stopped on a pad save by Varlamov.
New York did start to put pressure on from there with a ton of sustained offensive zone time, but it didn’t necessarily translate to a lot of quality chances. Varlamov did have to make a key save off a deflection by Kirby Dach later though, and while the Islanders had another power play opportunity late in the period, they weren’t able to convert.
Third Period
New York found themselves with three different power play chances within the first 15 minutes of the frame, giving them several excellent chances to take back the lead. While they did manage a handful of shots (along with giving up a 2-on-1 on the second power play), New York couldn’t convert on any of their chances.
But with under five minutes to go, Adam Pelech flipped a puck in the air and Jean-Gabriel Pageau took possession, putting a shot on Primeau that created a big rebound, which Anders Lee was able to bury for a 3-2 lead.
However, with just over two minutes to go and New York trying to hang on to the lead, Cole Caufield just threw a puck on net that somehow squeaked through Varlamov, tying the game on a goal that really shouldn’t have gone in, and sending it to overtime.
Overtime + Shootout
Caufield then came close to setting up the game-winner in overtime, feeding a 2-on-1 pass over to Lane Hutson, who was denied by Varlamov. Then New York had another opportunity of their own, with Kirby Dach taking a high-sticking penalty. On the ensuing power play, we saw excellent chances for both Noah Dobson and Kyle Palmieri, but somehow the Canadiens managed to survive the man advantage, and the game continued to a shootout.
New York shot first each round, but we saw a duel between Varlamov and Primeau early, where neither team scored in the first three rounds. Then when Kyle Palmieri scored to put the pressure on Montreal, Oliver Kapanen converted to keep it going. Simon Holmstrom then deked Primeau to put New York up again, but Emil Heineman answered with a great shot to extend it again.
We saw three more scoreless rounds from there, before Noah Dobson beat Primeau in the ninth round, meaning Logan Mailloux have to score to keep it going. Mailloux went to the backhand but missed wide, securing the 4-3 shootout win for New York.
Takeaways
Obviously, it’s great that New York managed to get the win. I noted after the loss to St. Louis that the Islanders have had a tendency to lose a lot of games when they get past regulation, so this was a nice change.
The Islanders did also ultimately outshoot Montreal by a 36-24 margin, including a 14-3 difference in the third period. They took a while to get going, but did have the momentum in the later stages.
While they capitalized on their first power play chance though, New York also missed countless opportunities to take control of the game, going 0-for-5 after Montreal drew even. Through the third period and overtime, they had every opportunity to take the lead back, and just couldn’t get it done.
The Islanders were also possibly dealt a big blow, with Anthony Duclair exiting the game with a lower-body injury.
If Duclair does miss extended time, it’s a huge blow to a top-six group that’s looked a lot better with him in the lineup.
Julien Gauthier was also placed on waivers today after his first game in New York, so we’ll see what comes of it.
It needs to be mentioned as well that New York blew not one, but two leads, including once again allowing a goal in the final couple minutes of the third period. Holding a lead was a massive issue for New York last season, and early on this year, it looks like it could be an issue that plagues them again.
Still, it’s a big win for the Islanders to get the two points. It’s games like yesterday’s (at home, against a team who didn’t reach the playoffs last year) that they need to win to set themselves up for some success this season. They’re now 2-1-2 through five games, so overall, it’s a decent start to the year on paper.
New York will be back in action on Tuesday, when they host the Detroit Red Wings.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
- Can the Islanders take a step forward this season?
- Islanders announce roster, Pierre Engvall clears waivers
- Islanders lose back-and-forth season opener, fall 5-4 to Utah in overtime
- Islanders begin road trip with shutout loss to Stars
- Islanders score six goals, take down Avalanche for first win of season
- Islanders wrap up road trip with overtime loss to Blues
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