National Hockey League
Montreal 3, Boston 2
When: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Where: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
Referees: Marc Joannette, Brian Pochmara
Linesmen: Michel Cormier, Brad Kovachik
Attendance: 21288

MONTREAL -- Paul Byron was given an opportunity and the speedy winger made the most of it.

Promoted to the top line as an injury replacement, Byron poked home the rebound of an Alexander Radulov shot at 18:58 of the third period to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.

The Bruins challenged for goaltender interference, but the call stood.

It was a big night for the Canadiens' top unit, with each member picking up a pair of points.

"Coming here to Montreal, Mike's given me lots of opportunity to play up and down the line-up and any time I get a chance to play with those guys, I try to make the most of it," said Byron, who was picked up off waivers in October 2015. "I know I'm a complete player so I can play anywhere up and down the line-up."

Shea Weber and Alex Galchenyuk also scored for Montreal, while Radulov picked up two assists.

Colin Miller and David Pastrnak connected for the Bruins (7-6-0).

Carey Price stopped 41 shots for the Canadiens (11-1-1), who gave up more than 40 shots for the third time in their past four games.

"We deserved better," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "I think we deserved much more than we got tonight. Disappointing in a way and encouraging in another that we played this well on a back-to-back game, in this type of situation. If we keep the same attitude and focus, we'll win more than we'll lose playing this way."

The Canadiens were in control to start, putting up a 4-1 shot advantage early one. Then the Bruins found their legs, outshooting Montreal 14-5 by period's end. Price was up to the task, denying Dominic Moore from in close on his left side and later stopping Riley Nash on a wraparound attempt.

"We know we have areas to clean up and areas to improve on and that's one of them," Pacioretty said of the shots against totals. "We've got to figure out how to limit shots but also play offense and play in their end. It felt like a little bit of a hot potato out there tonight and we were waiting for a bounce, and I think we got the bounces on those goals."

The scoresheet finally saw some action in a crazy sequence in which the teams combined for three goals in 70 seconds.

Montreal's power play connected for the first time in five games to break the scoreless draw at 3:58 of the second period. Tomas Plekanec fed a backhander to Weber at the point, who sent another backhander over to Andrei Markov on the right side before returning it to Weber for the blast. The goal was the defenseman's fifth goal of the season, four of which have come with the man advantage.

"Didn't really get a full view of it coming off his stick," Bruins goalie Zane McIntyre, who made 20 saves in his second NHL start. "Caught me by surprise there and I tried to react but with his velocity and stuff, too, it's hard to react when you pick it up late."

Fifty seconds later, Miller tied it when his shot from the left point hit the end boards before bouncing back out to hit the back of Price's leg and trickle into the net.

Galchenyuk's hustle allowed the Canadiens to regain the lead just 20 seconds after that. Radulov lobbed a light pass to a streaking Galchenyuk, and the 22-year-old lifted a backhander over McIntyre.

The Bruins tied it on the power play at 6:38 of the third period. Defenseman John-Michael Liles fed Pastrnak in the left circle for the one-timer that went top shelf, giving Boston its fourth power play tally in its past two games.

NOTES: Montreal LW Daniel Carr drew back into the lineup for the first time since the second game of the season, replacing LW Artturi Lehkonen, who is expected to miss at least one week with an upper-body injury. ... Canadiens RW Sven Andrighetto and D Joel Hanley were the club's healthy scratches. ... Boston RW Jimmy Hayes dressed after sitting the previous two games as a healthy scratch while C Noel Acciari missed the contest after sustaining an injury against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday. ... The Bruins scratched D Joe Morrow. ... The game was the 736th meeting all-time between the long-time rivals.
Top Game Performances
 
Boston   Montreal
Colin Miller 1 Points Paul Byron 2
Colin Miller 1 Goals Paul Byron 1
John-Michael Liles 1 Assists Alexander Radulov 2
David Pastrnak 1 Power Play Goals Shea Weber 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Zane McIntyre .870 Save Percentage Carey Price .953
Zane McIntyre 20 Saves Carey Price 41
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Boston 43 2 1-2 1-2 4 34
Montreal 23 3 1-2 1-2 4 28
Upcoming Games
  • Montreal will play their next game at home against Los Angeles. The Canadiens have a W/L % of .818 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.
  • Boston will play their next game at home against Columbus. The Bruins have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .600 after a loss.