MONTREAL (AP) — Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored at 3:14 of overtime and rookie Matthew Schaefer added two goals in a span of 55 seconds of the second period and the New York Islanders rallied to beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Thursday night.
Schaefer scored 18 goals, surpassing Dennis Potvin and becoming the player with the most goals by a rookie defender in team history. Schaeffer, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, also surpassed Phil Housley to become the leading 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history.
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Islanders captain Anders Lee also scored in his 900th skate and Ilya Sorokin made 21 saves to help New York win its third straight game. Sorokin improved his career record to 7-0-2 against Montreal.
The Canadiens’ Noah Dobson scored two goals in his first game against his former team. Cole Caufield scored Montreal’s team-leading 33rd goal in the third period and Samuel Montembeault made 23 saves.
Dobson, a balanced scorer with plenty of depth, spent his first six NHL seasons with the Islanders before being traded to Montreal last June for Emil Heineman and two 2025 first-round picks.
This is the first game back for both teams after the NHL was suspended for 19 days due to the Milan Cortina Olympics.
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Dobson took advantage of a poor line change by the Islanders to open the scoring for Montreal in the first period. The Canadiens defenseman caught a long pass from Ryan Hutson and fired a wrist shot from the left circle that knocked Sorokin to the glove side.
Dobson has 12 goals, one shy of his single-season highs for the Islanders in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Next
Islanders: At Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
Canadiens: Host the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
