Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki scored the game-winning goal in overtime against the New York Islanders. However, teammate Patrik Laine stole the spotlight in his debut as the Habs downed the visiting Isles 2-1 on Tuesday.
Laine scored the other Canadiens goal on the night, opening the scoring on the power play 7:23 into the second period. In so doing, Laine, who had been out since the preseason with a knee injury, became the 600th player in team history to score, per broadcaster RDS. Acquired last summer from the Columbus Blue Jackets, Laine went top shelf from the faceoff circle to beat Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin with Hudson Fasching off for high-sticking.
Not to be completely outdone, defenseman Lane Hutson assisted on the goal, scoring at least a point in the fourth straight game. At 20 years old, he became the first Canadiens defenseman that age or younger to accomplish the feat, also per RDS.
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Anders Lee replied for the Islanders late in the second, breaking Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault’s shutout bid. Defenseman Noah Dobson was able to keep the puck in the offensive zone, directing it to the front of the net. It ended up on Lee’s stick who was impressively stopped in all alone on Montembeault on his first attempt, before he pinballed it in to tie the score heading into the third.
Suzuki Ends It in Overtime
The Islanders averted disaster late in the usually final frame when forward Maxim Tsyplakov was initially handed a high-sticking double-minor penalty on defenseman Kaiden Guhle. However, the referees determined fellow-Hab Mike Matheson lifted Tsyplakov’s stick into Guhle’s face instead, reversing the decision and sending both teams into overtime at even strength. Regardless, Suzuki made the difference by burying his own rebound off a deflection in close at 2:39 of overtime to snap the Canadiens’ two-game losing streak.
The Canadiens, who have lost four of their last six, are now 9-13-3. They continue their five-game homestand on Thursday, Dec. 5 against the Nashville Predators. The 9-10-7 Islanders, who have now lost four of their last five, return home to play the Seattle Kraken, also on Thursday.The Islanders averted disaster late in the usually final frame when forward Maxim Tsyplakov was initially handed a high-sticking double-minor penalty on defenseman Kaiden Guhle. However, the referees determined fellow-Hab Mike Matheson lifted Tsyplakov’s stick into Guhle’s face instead, reversing the decision and sending both teams into overtime at even strength. Regardless, Suzuki made the difference by burying his own rebound off a deflection in close at 2:39 of overtime to snap the Canadiens’ two-game losing streak.
The Canadiens, who have lost four of their last six, are now 9-13-3. They continue their five-game homestand on Thursday, Dec. 5 against the Nashville Predators. The 9-10-7 Islanders, who have now lost four of their last five, return home to play the Seattle Kraken, also on Thursday.
