Pageau scores in OT, Islanders rally past Canadiens

MONTREAL -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored 1:46 into overtime after Anders Lee scored the tying goal late in the third period and the New York Islanders rallied for a 4-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Thursday.

Pageau broke loose with a pass off the boards from Simon Holmstrom and went backhand at the net to beat Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault five-hole.

“I have that feeling this year that when we get down we always have a chance to come back because we battle until the end,” Pageau said. “And that’s what happened again. We believed until the end and it worked out.”

Matthew Schaefer scored two goals in 55 seconds in the second period, and Ilya Sorokin had an assist and made 21 saves for New York (33-21-5), which has won three straight.

“Character. That’s the first word I have in mind and that’s what we’ve been doing,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “I mean, they’re fun to watch. Even if we were down two goals, I felt we were composed and we just kept playing our game.”

Noah Dobson scored twice for Montreal (32-17-9), which has points in six consecutive games (4-0-2). Montembeault made 22 saves.

Lee, the Islanders captain playing in his 900th game, tied it 3-3 with 1:41 remaining in the third period when Bo Horvat’s shot went in off him while he was set up in front of the crease.

“That was disappointing, obviously,” Dobson said. “We don’t want to be giving away points but we can clean up some things.” 

Dobson put the Canadiens up 1-0 at 12:11 of the first period. He took a cross-ice pass from Lane Hutson in the neutral zone before driving in and scoring on a wrist shot under Sorokin’s glove from the left face-off circle.

Dobson scored his second straight against his former team on a power play at 10:06 of the second period to make it 2-0 with a slap shot from the point on a pass from Alexandre Texier.

Alex Newhook got the secondary assist on Dobson’s second goal in his return after missing 40 games because of a broken ankle.

Schaefer cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 17:56. He took a pass from Mathew Barzal at the top of the left face-off circle and scored on a low wrist shot from the top of the slot.

Schaefer tied it 2-2 at 18:51 with a highlight-reel goal. The 18-year-old defenseman carried the puck down the left side, cutting behind the net and skating back toward the right point before curling back to his left and scoring on a wrist shot from the top of the right face-off circle.

“I didn’t think we shot enough early on in the game,” Schaefer said. “And then I was gaining speed, went around the net, and I took the ice they gave me and cut to the middle. I knew he was going to put his stick in so I wanted to get under that stick and just throw one at the middle. When you put pucks on the net, great things happen.”

It was the third two-goal game of the season for the rookie, who has 18 goals, breaking Phil Housley’s record (17) for most goals by an 18-year-old defenseman and Denis Potvin’s franchise record (17) for most goals by a rookie defenseman. Brian Leetch holds the NHL record for goals by a rookie defenseman with 23 for the New York Rangers in 1988-89.

“He’s such a good defenseman, he doesn’t look like he’s 18 out there,” Montembeault said. “He’s like a quarterback, a really good skater, he makes plays, obviously he got two goals today. He can shoot the puck very well too.” 

Cole Caufield put Montreal up 3-2 with a power-play goal at 9:11 of the third period, jamming in a loose puck in the crease after Ivan Demidov’s shot slipped through Sorokin’s pads.

NOTES: Dobson has nine points (three goals, six assists) during a career-best six-game point streak. … Schaefer has 41 points (18 goals, 23 assists) in 59 games. He is the third 18-year-old defenseman to have a 40-point season, along with Housley and Rasmus Dahlin.