Islanders defeat Canadiens in OT, gain ground in Metropolitan

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Kyle Palmieri scored at 1:17 of overtime to give the New York Islanders a 3-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at UBS Arena on Thursday.

After receiving a pass from Brock Nelson at the bottom of the right face-off circle, Palmieri beat Sam Montembeault over his shoulder.

“It’s a good feeling,” Palmieri said. “It’s definitely something that we get an opportunity to get that second point. I thought we played really well after the first period. I think the start was OK, and we settled in. There wasn’t much in the game, a little back and forth and sloppy stuff, but we just built and built and built and found a way.”

Pierre Engvall and Casey Cizikas scored, and Adam Pelech had two assists for the Islanders (37-27-15), who won their sixth straight game and increased their lead for third place in the Metropolitan Division to three points over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Semyon Varlamov made 13 saves.

“It was a hard-fought game,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “We had our chances, same for them. They also had their chances. Varlamov was really good when we had some breakdowns. ... One thing I'm proud of is that our guys competed. They were engaged, and they wanted to win this game. So it was nice to be rewarded with that goal in overtime.”

Cole Caufield had a goal and an assist, and Jordan Harris scored for the Canadiens (30-36-13), who have been eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention. Montembeault made 31 saves.

“For us tonight, I didn’t feel like we had our fastball in the sense of execution,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “It’s props to the way they played. They made it hard on us to make plays in space.”

Harris gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 17:58 of the first period. After Nick Suzuki’s shot in the left face-off circle was blocked by Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock, Caufield set up Harris for a one-timer from inside the blue line.

Engvall tied it 1-1 at 5:17 of the second period. Pelech fed him in the left circle, and he carried the puck to the high slot before scoring high to the glove side.

Caufield gave Montreal a 2-1 lead at 3:42 of the third period, snapping a shot through Varlamov’s five-hole from low in the left circle.

Cizikas tied it 2-2 at 6:30. After Pelech missed a shot from the low slot, Cizikas gathered the rebound off the boards behind the net and scored with a wraparound at the left post.

“I thought we came out flat,” Suzuki said. “We obviously know the position they’re in and we definitely could have came out with a little bit more intensity. But as the game went on, I thought we did better things but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Varlamov kept the game tied when he stopped Joel Armia’s wrist shot from the right circle on a short-handed 2-on-1 at 13:08.

“You want to go see Palmieri because he made that great shot and played an awesome game for us,” Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “But also, you want to go to see Varlamov. That saved us and gave us a chance to go to overtime. He made some key saves at key moments.”

New York defenseman Noah Dobson left the game at 5:33 of the first with an upper-body injury. There was no update. 

NOTES: Palmieri has scored in four straight games (four goals). … Varlamov has won his past four starts. … The Islanders have held opponents to two goals or fewer in five straight games. … Caufield has seven points (five goals, two assists) in a six-game point streak.