Pacioretty leads Canadiens by Red Wings

MONTREAL -- The Montreal Canadiens came from behind Tuesday to deny the Detroit Red Wings an opportunity to move into a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Max Pacioretty scored his second goal of the game 11:18 into the third period and Montreal recovered from blowing a two-goal lead for a 4-3 win against Detroit at Bell Centre.

Mike Condon made 39 saves, and Paul Byron and Sven Andrighetto scored for the Canadiens (35-36-6), who had lost consecutive games.
"They're a dangerous team," said Condon, who made 23 saves in the third period. "They're a scrappy team fighting for a playoff spot, so it was good to play spoiler tonight."

Gustav Nyquist, Anthony Mantha and Mike Green scored power-play goals in the second period for Detroit, which could have moved into third place in the Atlantic Division.
"Obviously it's a big game, important points on the line and we found a way to claw back in the game with some power-play goals, and then it turned back on us," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said.
The Red Wings (38-28-11), who have five games remaining, trail the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Each has 87 points, but Philadelphia has two games in hand.
Detroit, which hosts the Minnesota Wild on Friday, is fourth in the Atlantic Division, one point behind the Boston Bruins, who lost 2-1 at the New Jersey Devils. Boston also has five games remaining.

"It's better for us they lost," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "Whether we won or lost it's better for us that they lost. Obviously we need to win games."
Andrighetto tied the game at 3-3 with a power-play goal at 6:34 of the third. He deflected Tomas Plekanec's shot past goalie Jimmy Howard for his seventh goal.
Pacioretty, who gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 8:23 of the first period, scored his second of the game to finish off a passing play with linemates Alex Galchenyuk and Byron.
"It's disappointing, for sure," Blashill said about the blown lead. "It's frustrating and disappointing, but what do you do? We've got to move on, we've got to learn from it, we've got to get better, we've got to have a good practice Thursday and play a great game on Friday. That's all we can control right now."

Pacioretty and Byron scored 3:02 apart to give the Canadiens a 2-0 lead at 11:25 of the first.
"It was hard, the goals," Zetterberg said. "I thought we played decent in the first couple of shifts, I thought we worked hard. Then they get that first goal, the deflection goal, and (Mrazek) can't do anything about that. Then they got that second one. It's hard to be behind like that early."
Petr Mrazek was pulled for a second straight game after he made five saves on seven shots. Howard made 19 saves after replacing Mrazek following Byron's goal.
"I wanted to make the change for momentum, I thought at that point we needed some momentum difference," Blashill said. "I thought (Mrazek) made two big saves, but I wanted to change momentum."

Detroit erased the two-goal deficit with three power-play goals in the second to go ahead 3-2.
Nyquist and Mantha scored 44 seconds apart after Montreal defenseman Alexei Emelin took a major penalty for interference at 8:44 of the second on a hit that sent Red Wings rookie forward Dylan Larkin into the boards.
"I knew he was coming but I didn't know he was coming that hard," Larkin said. "I was pretty far from the boards and I was hoping (Zetterberg) would take the puck like he did and I'd get rode out. I got rode out pretty hard."
Canadiens coach Michel Therrien thought the penalty was unwarranted.
"That was a pretty solid hockey hit, I believe," Therrien said. "The puck was right there. So I don't agree, but that doesn't change anything."

Green put Detroit ahead at 16:20 with a shot past Condon from the right point after Montreal right wing Mike Brown was given minor penalties for cross-checking and roughing.
"They have a dangerous power play, and if you spend that much time in the box with a team like that that's desperate for their lives, they're going to make you pay and that's what they did," Pacioretty said.
Blashill used his coach's challenge to deny Emelin the tying goal at 2:58 of the third. Referee Brad Meier ruled that Brown interfered with Howard before Emelin scored.
Therrien said goalie Carey Price will accompany the Canadiens on their two-game road trip, which begins at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. Price has been sidelined by a lower-body injury since Nov. 25.
"I don't know if he's going to practice, but I know he's coming with us," Therrien said. "He needs to work with (goaltending coach) Stephane Waite."