NEW YORK (AP) - Shea Weber came through with a late goal to get the NHL-leading Montreal Canadiens another big win.
Weber’s power-play goal with 2:57 remaining lifted the Canadiens to their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the New York Islanders on Wednesday night. Paul Byron and Phillip Danault also scored to help Montreal improve to 6-0-1 and remain the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss.
“It’s still early but we’ve done some good things so far,” Weber said after getting his third goal and ninth point since being acquired in a big offseason trade with Nashville. “Got to keep winning games. It doesn’t mean anything if we lose two, three in a row. We got to keep getting better every night.”
Al Montoya, who played for the Islanders from 2010-12, stopped 26 shots in his first start since Oct. 18 as the Canadiens beat New York for the seventh straight time.
“We had a slow start. Montoya played well for us, great in the first,” Weber said. “We came on maybe in the last five, six minutes of the first, played better after that. He made some big saves at the end of the third before we were able to score on the power play.”
John Tavares and Dennis Seidenberg scored for New York and Thomas Greiss had 26 saves in his second straight start and third of the season. The Islanders lost for the second time on a five-game homestand.
With the Islanders’ Nick Leddy off for slashing, Weber took a pass from defenseman Jeff Petry and fired a shot from the point for the tiebreaking goal. It was just the second power-play goal in 23 opportunities given up by New York’s league-leading penalty-killing unit.
“I knew (Petry) was going to pass it over,” Weber said. “It was kind of rolling, so I just wanted to make sure I got good wood on it. I think (Islanders defenseman Travis) Hamonic went down in front of the goal and it just found a way through.”
Danault gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead with 8:39 remaining. He deflected the rebound of a shot by Torrey Mitchell past Greiss for his second of the season and sixth of his career.
Seidenberg tied it with 5:44 to go with a one-timer from above the right faceoff circle.
Andrew Shaw had breakaway for Montreal less than a minute later but fired his shot wide of the net.
Alex Galchenyuk nearly gave the Canadiens the lead about 6 minutes into the third, but his shot hit the crossbar.
Montreal came out more aggressive in the second period and outshot New York 12-5. The Canadiens took a 1-0 lead early in the middle period as Brendan Gallagher’s wrister from the right side was stopped by Greiss, but the rebound went past New York defenseman Travis Hamonic in front and Byron fired it in at 3:10.
Montreal had another great chance more than a minute later but Greiss made a sprawling save on Artturi Lehkonen.
“Second period (was) probably our worst period of the season,” Tavares said. “We responded in the third and gave ourselves a chance and we just didn’t get it done.”
Tavares tied it for the Islanders with 4:47 left in the second on a power play with Lehkonen off for high-sticking. Nick Leddy fired a point shot from inside the blue line through traffic that bounced off a screened Montoya. Andrew Ladd knocked Alexei Emelin’s stick off the puck and Tavares came in and fired it past the Montoya from the right side for his fourth of the season.
New York’s Anthony Beauvillier blocked a slap shot from Greg Pateryn on his right leg with about 1:48 left in the middle period and was down for several minutes before being helped off the ice to the dressing room. He returned for the start of the third.
The Islanders controlled the play for most of the scoreless opening period, outshooting the Canadiens 8-6.
NOTES: Montreal’s Tomas Plekenec played in his 850th game, two behind Mario Tremblay for 17th place on the franchise list. … Montreal scratched D Mikhail Sergachev, the No. 9 pick in the June draft, for the third straight game. … New York F Nikolay Kulemin missed the game due to an upper body injury. He was replaced in the lineup by Mathew Barzal, one of the Islanders’ two 19-year-old rookies who played for the second time. … New York went 3-1-0 on its five-game homestand. After a trip to Pittsburgh to complete a back-to-back, the Islanders will open another stretch of five straight at home on Sunday against Toronto. … Tavares’ goal on the Islanders’ lone power play made them 5 for 26 with the man advantage this season.
UP NEXT
Canadiens: Host Tampa Bay on Thursday to complete their first of 15 back-to-backs this season.
Islanders: At defending champion Pittsburgh in their first road game since the opening weekend of the season.
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