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Cole Caufield scored his 25th goal and added an assist for the Montreal Canadiens in a 3-2 overtime loss against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Thursday.

Kyle Palmieri scored the winner at 1:17 of the extra frame to give Patrick Roy’s club the win. New York was dealt a harsh blow when Noah Dobson left the game in the first period with an injury and did not return.

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The Habs were outshot 33-15 by the Isles. Sam Montembeault made 30 saves in the loss.

Montreal opened the scoring towards the end of the period. Caufield set up Jordan Harris at the point with a one-timer, and Juraj Slafkovsky served as the screen to open scoring 1-0.

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The Islanders tied it up 1-1 in the second. Pierre Engvall circled the offensive zone and fired from the high slot, beating Montembeault for the equalizer.

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There was also an unexpected fight in the second period between two unlikely pugilists: Brendan Gallagher and Jean-Gabriel Pageau. It was a spirited bout between the two veterans.

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The Habs and Isles traded goals in the third period. Montreal regained the lead on a confusing play where Caufield beat Varlamov, but the puck got wedged under the mesh along the inside of the net and the officials seemed to lose sight of the puck. But it was a good goal that put the Habs up 2-1. Mike Matheson hit the 60-point plateau for the first time in his career with an assist.

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The Isles came storming back. Adam Pelech drove the net and Casey Cizikas finished with a wraparound to tie the game up 2-2.

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The game was tied up after 60 minutes. During three-on-three overtime, Kyle Palmieri went bar down on a sharp angle shot to give the Isles a much-needed two points. They’re still in the thick of a playoff race.

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With the season winding down, Harris is playing his part to remain in the conversation on defence. He now has four points in his last two games. He was the top performer on the night according to Hockey Stat Cards.

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But there was another defenceman on everyone’s minds in the liveblog comments. While the Habs were playing on Long Island, top prospect Lane Hutson saw his college season come to an end with Boston University falling to Denver. Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes was in attendance, so does that mean a signing is imminent? There are three games remaining in the season, so Hutson has time to sign and burn a year off his entry-level contract.

An already crowded defence situation is about to become even more crowded.

3. “Tied up in third, and Habs managed to stay in the game and force OT against a team that had way more to play for. MSL has to be happy with that.” — Doug Kirkby

2. “Well, can’t call it a heartbreaker since we aren’t really playing for anything, but would have been nice to see them win.” — Haari Meech

1. “I didn’t think with being so badly outshot the Habs would be able to pull it off…” — Timothy Hawkins

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