The Canadian Press
MONTREAL–John Tavares got a second chance in overtime and made the most of it.
The Islanders’ captain was robbed on a spectacular save by Carey Price but got the puck back and made no mistake to give New York a 5-4 victory despite being outshot 56-24 by the Montreal Canadiens last night.
“That first one was a heck of a save,” Tavares said of a close-range shot that Price swung out a leg to save.
“He’s arguably the best goalie in the league.
“I had a chance to play with him before and seen his talent first-hand, so you know you have to be at your best and you can’t take any opportunity for granted,” Tavares added.
“I tried not to quit,” he noted. “I stayed with it, and I’m glad I got an opportunity and put it in.”
Tavares also had a goal in regulation time as the Islanders (23-18-4) posted a third-straight win.
More eye-catching was Mathew Barzal, who had a goal and two assists to give him 10 points in the last three games.
The rookie was coming off a five-point game against the N.Y. Rangers on Saturday night.
“During the season there are ups and downs,” said Barzal. “There are times when you feel you’re never going to score again and times when everything’s going in.
“Hopefully I can just ride it for a while.”
Anthony Beauvillier and Adam Pelech also scored for New York.
Barzal’s sniping and play-making allowed the opportunistic Islanders to win a game in which they were outplayed and outshot by a wide margin.
Nicolas Deslauriers, Paul Byron, and Jonathan Drouin scored for Montreal (18-20-6) before Max Pacioretty tipped in a power-play goal to tie the game and force overtime at 13:01 of the third.
It allowed Montreal to pick up a point for a second-straight game after a shootout loss to Boston on Saturday.
They are 2-0-2 in their last four.
“I thought we were the better team,” said coach Claude Julien. “They scored three goals on [their first] 10 shots but we showed character in coming back.
“It’s disappointing we didn’t get the two points, but we got six points out of the last eight and if we keep going like that, we’ll be back in the race,” he reasoned.
Elsewhere in the NHL, Dallas edged Boston 3-2 (OT), Colorado beat Anaheim 3-1, and San Jose downed L.A. 4-1.
