Alex Galchenyuk and Sven Andrighetto scored in regulation and again in the shootout and the Montreal Canadiens rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Friday night for their fourth straight win.
Mike Condon started for the injured Carey Price and preserved the win by stopping Patrik Elias with his pad on the Devils' fifth attempt in the shootout. He finished with 25 saves, the same as the Devils' Cory Schneider.
Adam Henrique and Lee Stempniak scored for the Devils in regulation and Jacob Josefson had the only New Jersey tally in the shootout. The Devils have lost four of five games.
Schneider had two outstanding stops in overtime, including a point-blank save on Max Pacioretty on a power play in the waning seconds and a short-handed stop on Tomas Plekanec's breakaway.
Andrighetto pulled Montreal within 2-1 with 4:43 left in the second period, and then Galchenyuk tied it with 8:46 left in the third.
Price is sidelined again with a lower-body injury. The NHL MVP and Vezina Trophy winner just recently returned after missing eight games with the same injury.
This was the opener of a home-and-home series with the teams playing in Montreal on Saturday night.
Local
After a scoreless first period, the Devils jumped ahead 2-0 in the opening 9:06 of the second period, only to see the Canadiens rally to tie it.
Galchenyuk got the game-tying goal using his speed to score on a breakaway. Pacioretty set it up with a pass that allowed Galchenyuk to split defensemen Andy Greene and Adam Larsson and beat Schneider with a backhander for his third goal in as many games.
Montreal got back in the game late in the second period. Lars Eller kept a clearing pass by Devils defenseman Jon Merrill in the attacking zone and Andrighetto beat Schneider with a shot that handcuffed the goaltender for his second goal in two games.
The Devils took the lead early in the second period. Less than 30 seconds after Condon stopped Henrique on a 2-on-1 break, the winger scored his 11th goal of the season at 1:09. Stempniak skated the puck into the Montreal zone, sent a pass to defenseman John Moore, and he found Henrique in the left circle for a shot that went off Condon's glove.
Stempniak scored his fifth goal of the season with P.K. Subban in the penalty box for tripping. New Jersey worked the puck around the Canadiens' zone and Elias found Mike Cammalleri in the right corner. He sent a quick pass across the goal mouth that Stempniak jammed into the net after Condon stopped his initial shot.
Schneider had been spectacular early. He robbed Plekanec with a diving glove save with 3:32 left in the first period and stopped David Desharnais in close on a rebound a minute later. He also stopped Desharnais on a 2-on-1 break in the second period.
NOTES: After signing a one-year contract earlier in the day, Devils F Tyler Kennedy was in the lineup. ... New Jersey D David Schlemko missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury. ... With Price out, G Dustin Tokarski was recalled from St. John's to back up Condon. ... D Greg Pateryn was back in the Canadiens' lineup after being a healthy scratch against the Rangers, replacing Alexei Emelin. ... D Andrei Markov picked up his 400th assist with the Canadiens on Galchenyuk's goal.
