Max Pacioretty gives Canadiens another OT victory

DALLAS-- Max Pacioretty scored 19 seconds into overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Wednesday.
Pacioretty was sprung on a breakaway by Jeff Petry and beat Kari Lehtonen with a wrist shot.

Al Montoya made 39 saves for Montreal (24-9-6), which is 5-6 in overtime and has a five-game point streak (all in overtime). Dallas (16-15-8) is 2-8 in overtime.
Pacioretty also scored in overtime for a 2-1 win at the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. He has eight NHL overtime goals, a Canadiens record.
WATCH: All Canadiens vs. Stars highlights
"You know, the road hasn't been perfect for us this year," Pacioretty said. "We weren't great in overtime, so it's a little bit of a blessing that we've played this many overtime games in a row since we've gotten a little bit better at it. But it definitely feels good to get two points."
Stars coach Lindy Ruff was frustrated Pacioretty got loose.
"Overtime, we tried to score. Our high guy's in perfect shape. Our high guy (Tyler Seguin) just lets … there's nothing I can address in video. That's just attention," Ruff said. "That's one of your veteran, best players let their guy go. He's not going to want to see that on video. I don't want to see it again."

Dallas tied the game 3-3 with 2:47 remaining in the third period on a point shot by Esa Lindell after Montreal scored two power-play goals to take the lead.
Alexander Radulov tied the game 2-2 and extended his point streak to five games on the power play at 2:58 of the third. He got a loose puck near the Stars blue line and went by a defender before beating Lehtonen with a forehand-to-backhand move.
"He's got so much passion for the game," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said of Radulov. "He makes big plays, and that's another guy that wants to win. And when you've got your leaders with that type of attitude, the rest of the group, they'll follow."

Pacioretty gave Montreal a 3-2 lead on the power play at 4:13 of the third on a wrist shot.

Nathan Beaulieu gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 10:38 of the first period on a shot that beat Lehtonen through a screen. Phillip Danault set up the goal after he stole the puck from Curtis McKenzie.
Tyler Seguin tied the game 1-1 at 14:44 when he deflected Stephen Johns' point shot past Montoya for his 14th goal of the season.
John Klingberg scored his fourth goal at 12:29 of the second period to give Dallas a 2-1 lead. It was his first power-play goal this season.

Goal of the game

Pacioretty's overtime goal made Montreal 3-1-2 in the first six of a seven-game road trip.

Save of the game

Montoya made a left-pad save on McKenzie at 6:48 of the second period when it was 1-1. Montoya smothered a rebound and was nearly pushed into the net.

Highlight of the game

Radulov's power-play goal in the second period tied the game.

Unsung performance of the game

Montreal played most of the third period with 10 forwards after losing Paul Byron (upper body) and Brendan Gallagher (hand) to injury. Eight of the 10 played at least 5:25 in the period.
"That was tough," Therrien said. "We faced adversity again tonight. We lost two forwards in our top six. We [had] to dig in."

They said it

"We showed a lot of character again tonight. It was a tough game to play, to be quite honest, with the emotion that we got yesterday and the traveling. We played against a fresh team. The first 10 minutes, I saw a team that [was] really hungry, a little bit tougher in the second period, but we've been in that position so many times this year and we find ways to win the third period and find a way to win. The character, the work ethic of that group, it's phenomenal." -- Canadiens coach Michel Therrien
"I thought we beat ourselves. Beat ourselves by taking the second penalty, on a play we didn't even need to put a puck up near the glass. And then were in perfect position in overtime and just let the high guy go, which is totally unacceptable. Our high guy let him go, and it's another point we gave away. They didn't earn it. We gave the game away." -- Stars coach Lindy Ruff

Need to know

Therrien said Gallagher would not travel with the Canadiens to Toronto after getting hit on the hand by a Shea Weber shot in the third period. … Stars captain Jamie Benn (foot) went on injured reserve Wednesday retroactive to Dec. 31. The forward will miss the game against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. … Pacioretty was tied with Saku Koivu and Howie Morenz at seven overtime goals for the Canadiens. ... Andrew Cogliano is the only NHL player to score an overtime goal in three straight games (Edmonton Oilers; March 7, 9, 11, 2008), according to the Elias Sports Bureau. ... Ruff coached his 1,450th NHL regular-season game, fourth most in NHL history.

What's next

Canadiens: At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, TVA Sports, NHL.TV)
Stars: At the St. Louis Blues on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, FS-SW+, NHL.TV)