Islanders beat Canadiens on Noah Dobson's ninth-round shootout goal

The Islanders just don’t make things easy for themselves. And things may get tougher with a potential injury to top-line left wing Anthony Duclair.

They were unable to convert on three third-period power plays (and one in overtime), unable to hold a two-goal lead in the first period and a one-goal lead late in the third period, and unable to turn a 36-24 shot advantage into a decided edge.

But it turned into a 4-3 shootout win in nine rounds on Saturday night at UBS Arena when Noah Dobson — the second Islanders defenseman to shoot — scored the deciding shootout goal. Semyon Varlamov then turned aside Canadiens defenseman Logan Mailloux to finally end the lengthy game.

“Yeah, finally,” said Dobson, now 1-for-4 in career shootout attempts. “I’m trending in the right direction. It felt good. Obviously, not the most common spot for us defensemen, but as we’re getting down the line, we’re getting ready and just trying to make the most of the opportunity. A huge win.”

“It was almost a little relief,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “I thought we played a solid game. We had our looks. We had our chances. We kept pushing. To end up on top tonight showed a lot of character.”

Anders Lee bulled his way to the crease to knock in the rebound of Pageau’s shot to give the Islanders (2-1-2) a 3-2 lead at 15:24 of the third period. But Cole Caufield, with his second goal, tied it at 17:50 with a shot that trickled underneath Varlamov’s right arm.

But Varlamov then stopped three shots in overtime and seven of nine in the shootout.

“That’s Varly,” coach Patrick Roy said. “Not just Varly, the team. We regrouped after the goal. Called a timeout just to make sure we stayed focused and had the same energy level. I was proud [of] the way the guys responded after this. It didn’t change anything.”

Roy, meanwhile, did not have an immediate update on Duclair, who signed a four-year, $14 million deal as a free agent.

He exited at 3:19 of the third period, helped off the ice without putting weight on his right leg. Duclair went down awkwardly while trying to split the Canadiens’ defense to get to the net.

“You never like seeing a teammate on the ice, laying there,” Dobson said. “He’s such a big part of our team. Hopefully he’s OK.”

Saturday marked the start of a stretch of four of five at home after the Islanders were shut out twice in a 1-1-1 road trip. Roy made his first lineup change of the season among his skaters, inserting speedy right wing Julien Gauthier for Oliver Wahlstrom onto Kyle MacLean’s fourth line with Casey Cizikas.

The Islanders took a 2-0 lead at 16:58 of the first period as Kyle Palmieri lifted a shot to the far post on a rush up the right. Bo Horvat’s power-play one-timer from the slot off Mathew Barzal’s feed opened the scoring at 14:32.

The Islanders could not extend the lead as Barzal shot wide on a two-on-one rush with Duclair at 17:51 of the first period and netminder Cayden Primeau smothered Pageau’s slot shot off Lee’s feed at 18:29.

Instead, the Canadiens (2-3-1) halved their deficit with 3.5 seconds left in the first period as Caufield connected from the left on the power play. Max Tsyplakov was whistled for high sticking with 8.8 seconds remaining.

Mailloux tied it at 2-2 with a rising shot from the slot just 59 seconds into the second period. The Islanders were unable to retake the lead despite hemming the Canadiens in their zone — with Oliver Kapanen defending after losing his stick — for a stretch of 3 minutes, 43 seconds midway through the second period.

“We played a really good first period and gave one back,” Lee said. “It was one of those nights, for whatever reason, they found a way to climb themselves back in. I think we played through the game and stuck with our mindset and our structure.”

Notes & quotes: The Islanders went 1-for-6 with nine shots on the power play. The Canadiens were 1-for-1 . . . The Islanders won their first shootout since Nov. 18, 2023, at Calgary and their first at home since April 12, 2022, against the Penguins.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.