Greiss makes 52 saves, Islanders get by Canadiens in OT

MONTREAL -- Thomas Greiss made an NHL career-high 52 saves, and John Tavares scored his second goal of the game at 1:51 of overtime to give the New York Islanders a 5-4 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Monday.
Tavares reached around goalie Carey Price to score the winner from the left edge of the crease after New York blew 2-0 and 4-2 leads.

"Greiss] was the difference-maker, gave us the chance to win," Tavares said. "Without that effort he had tonight, we're not in this position."
***[WATCH: [All Islanders vs. Canadiens highlights]*
Mathew Barzal had a goal and two assists for the Islanders (23-18-4), who have won three in a row following a five-game losing streak.
Barzal, whose 47 points lead NHL rookies, has three goals and seven assists during a three-game point streak. He had two goals and three assists in a 7-2 win at the New York Rangers on Saturday.

"I think that was a winnable game for us right from the start, being up 2-0," Barzal said. "And you don't want to give up a lead like that when you know you can win games like that on the road, so that's a big win for us."
Max Pacioretty scored for a fourth straight game to tie it 4-4 with a power-play goal at 13:01 of the third period. He deflected Jeff Petry's one-timer past Greiss on Montreal's 47th shot.
Nicolas Deslauriers, Paul Byron and Jonathan Drouin scored, and Carey Price made 19 saves for Montreal (18-20-6), which outshot New York 56-24, including 22-6 in the second period.
"Our team shoots from bad angles often, and maybe against some teams more than others," Pacioretty said. "Sometimes we get stuck in doing so instead of trying to make that extra play. It's a fine line between wanting to make that extra play and passing up a shot, or just putting it on net. There's a time and a place for everything, and we've got to balance that out."

The Canadiens were 2-0-1 in their previous three games, including a 4-3 shootout loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
"The effort's there and we're going to keep working with this group because last game, against Boston, we did a really good job in our own end," Montreal coach Claude Julien said. "Tonight, not so much. We've got to get back to the drawing board and see if we can't tighten up in certain areas."
Barzal got his third point of the game, his 31st assist, when Adam Pelech scored at 2:37 of the second period to give New York a 3-2 lead.
Tavares made it 4-2 when he scored on a shorthanded breakaway at 5:36.
Drouin got the Canadiens within 4-3 when he scored with 44 seconds left in the second.

Anthony Beauvillier scored his fourth goal in three games to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 1:24 of the first period. Barzal set up Beauvilier, who shot past Price from the left side.
Barzal made it 2-0 at 6:29 with his 16th goal, second among NHL rookies behind Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser (22).
Deslauriers drew Montreal within 2-1 at 8:01, and Byron scored at 12:10 to tie it 2-2.

Goal of the game

Barzal's goal at 6:29 of the first period.

Saves of the game

Greiss stopping Pacioretty 10 seconds into overtime and Petry on the rebound.

Highlight of the game

Tavares' shorthanded goal at 5:36 of the second period.

They said it

"I think our line's working hard and I think we're creating our chances. It's not like we're just creating three chances and they're all going in, you know, we might have six or seven throughout the game and we're fortunate enough to bury some. [Anthony Beauvilier] and [Jordan Eberle] are both proven goal-scorers, so it makes my job easy." -- Islanders forward Mathew Barzal
"There's a lot of good things we can build upon, but a couple of mistakes cost us the game. And we've just got to find a way to sharpen up and make sure we're not making those mistakes and giving teams goals like that." -- Canadiens forward Paul Byron

Need to know

Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield did not play in the third period after he was struck in the face by the puck after Pacioretty's shot deflected off his stick. ... Canadiens defenseman David Schlemko scored on the power play at 11:02 of the second, but the goal was disallowed following video review after Islanders coach Doug Weight challenged for offside.

What's next

Islanders: Host the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, MSG+ 2, NHL.TV)
Canadiens: At the Boston Bruins on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, RDS, NHL.TV)