The Canadian finally got over the bad luck of the “reverse retro” powder blue jersey on his last chance.
Mike Matheson scored on a comeback 4:39 into overtime and the Montreal club defeated the New York Islanders 4-3 on Saturday afternoon at the Bell Centre.
Matheson scored after a save by Semyon Varlamov against Mike Hoffman on the breakaway. Hoffman had just left the penalty box.
The Canadian had lost its first seven home games in blue (0-6-1). He presents a Bell Center record of 11-8-0 in his traditional red uniform.
The Habs were playing their first game since January 31, having then taken advantage of a long break from the all-star game. The Islanders were already in their fourth meeting of the week, but the Canadian did not seem rusty.
Nick Suzuki, Justin Barron and Kirby Dach also hit the target for the Canadian (21-27-4), which ended a four-game losing streak (0-3-1). Hoffman had three assists and Samuel Montembeault made 27 saves.
Brock Nelson had a goal and an assist. Bo Horvat and Matt Martin completed for the Islanders (27-23-6). Noah Dobson had two assists and Varlamov stopped 27 shots.
Forward Jonathan Drouin was back in action for the Canadiens after missing seven games with an upper body injury.
The Canadiens will host the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
A close duel
The start of the match was not the most exciting. The best chance went to Anders Lee, but the Islanders captain’s shot hit the post.
The Canadian opened the scoring after 12:57 of play. Rafaël Harvey-Pinard recovered the disc along the ramp before making a cross pass to Suzuki, who scored on a one-timer.
The Islanders replied 2:04 later. Nelson deflected a long Dobson shot seconds after winning a Habs face-off against Dach.
The second period resulted in closed play. The Canadian had a long streak in the Islanders zone, but it was the support staff who bottled the visitors in their territory and they did not generate a real scoring opportunity.
The Islanders luckily took a 2-1 lead with five seconds left in the second period. During a power play, Horvat sent the puck towards the goal from the corner of the territory of the Canadian. The disc appeared to deflect against Montembeault’s equipment before crossing the goal line.
The Canadian tied the score at 2-2 after 4:02 of play in the third period. Barron moved the ropes with a precise wrist shot, following a back pass from Hoffman.
Lady luck continued to play tricks on the Canadian. Martin put the Islanders back in front with 9:06 to go when a shot from Alexander Romanov deflected off him before landing in the goal.
Dach managed to prolong the debate, however, by deflecting a Matheson shot into the back of the net with 3:16 left in regulation.
Matheson finally ruled in overtime. The play required a lengthy video review, but officials determined Hoffman was not in an offside position when entering the zone.