Max Pacioretty says he'd trade the goals for a win.

"It was better when I wasn't scoring and we were winning," said Pacioretty stony-faced in the Habs' dressing room after the 4-3 overtime loss and a 3-1 lead built on his pair had been squandered.

For the first 30 minutes, Pacioretty's gift goal from the other side of centre ice on Cam Ward Monday seemed like the gift that kept on giving. 

The Habs' power forward who insisted Monday he was not concerned about being stuck on 0 goals this season now has 4 in 3 games, getting a pair to give the Canadiens a lead in their bid to strengthen a hold on top spot in the conference.

Pacioretty fired on a power-play shot from the slot after a pass from David Desharnais and even better work by PK Subban to keep the pressure on in the 1st period.

Pacioretty added his second of the night on another setup in the slot in the 2nd period.

Carey Price was curt in the scrum afterwards, Michel Therrien with precious little to say either.

"We panicked," Pacioretty admitted.

Travis Moen fired a one-timer shot on feed from Colby Armstrong to give the Canadiens an early lead on the Islanders at the Bell Centre.

The goal came only a minute after Carey Price in the opening seconds made a tough stop on John Tavares in close after a defensive gaffe and a perfect pass from ex-Hab Mark Streit. 

Price faced only 1 more shot over the next 15 minutes.  By the end of the 1st, the Habs pushed their shot advantage to 14-3.

The Canadiens, 1st in the Eastern Conference, were looking for a 6th straight win.

The Islanders scored on their first shot of the 2nd period, when Matt Moulson deflected a point shot from former Hab Mark Streit.  Moulson scored again with Tavares and Boyes scoring on the power-play with David Desharnais in the box.

Ryan White risked another stint in the Habs' doghouse after taking a goalie interference penalty.  Evgeni Nabakov flopped on the ice for a prolonged period after White's shoulder caught him in the head.  The Habs' frequent nuisance of a forward had been pushed into the New York goalie. 

The Islanders' Thomas Hickey scored at 3:12 of OT on a setup from Grabner and Tavares that caught Diaz and Gorges.

Rene had no shots on goal and was a -2, while Markov and Emelin were -1's.

Alouettes General Manager Jim Popp was in attendence at the game, guest of Dr. Vincent Lacroix.