Price, Canadiens defeat Red Wings, win fourth in row

DETROIT -- Brendan Gallagher scored twice and had an assist to help the Montreal Canadiens win their fourth straight game, 6-3 against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday.

"We've been playing better for a while now, but this has been a huge week for us," Gallagher said. "We've won four games, including some games in our division, and now we get to play Detroit again on Saturday with a chance to get another one at home."
Anthony Mantha, Tomas Tatar and Frans Nielsen scored for Detroit (10-11-5), which has lost six straight (0-3-3) to match its worst streak of the season. Jimmy Howard allowed a season-high six goals on 25 shots.
WATCH: [All Canadiens vs. Red Wings highlights]
"You can say that we didn't get any bounces tonight, but we didn't earn any," said Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg, who has not scored a goal in 19 games (Oct. 18). "We have to start winning some battles."
Carey Price made 28 saves and has allowed five goals in four starts since returning from a lower-body injury Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres, the first game of the winning streak. Price was starting his second game in as many nights, having helped Montreal to a 2-1 home win against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.
The Canadiens had lost six of seven prior to his return.

"It is a huge boost to our confidence to know Carey is back there," Montreal forward Alex Galchenyuk said. "We all know that if we can put a couple pucks in the net, he's going to win the game for us."
Charles Hudon, Andrew Shaw, Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty scored for Montreal (12-12-3), which trailed 2-1 before scoring five straight goals, including three in the second period.
Gallagher gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 4:10 of the first period, tipping Pacioretty's shot over Howard's shoulder with two seconds left on a penalty to Detroit's Luke Glendening.
Mantha made it 1-1 at 5:14 when his centering pass deflected off the stick of Montreal defenseman Victor Mete and went past Price for his 12th goal.
Tatar put the Red Wings ahead 2-1 with a power-play goal at 15:43 of the first period, beating a screened Price with a one-timer from the left circle.

Montreal regained the lead with two goals in 43 seconds in the second period.
"We had the lead, and then we self-destructed a little bit," Detroit forward Justin Abdelkader said. "We've had a few games like this, where we give up a couple quick goals and put ourselves in a hole."
Hudon made it 2-2 at 4:46, flipping a loose puck into the top of the net for his third goal of the season.
Shaw put Montreal ahead 3-2 at 5:29, breaking in alone after an Abdelkader turnover and beating Howard with a wrist shot for his sixth goal.
"You don't have any energy, because you suck the energy out of yourself by giving away easy goals," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "You have no chance to win in this league when you give away easy goals."

Galchenyuk made it 4-2 at 17:49 of the second, shooting his own rebound past Howard for his sixth goal of the season.
"When you are playing a back-to-back, the first period of the second game is always the toughest," Gallagher said. "I thought that once we got through that, we got some energy and we were great in the second period."
Gallagher scored his second of the game at 8:35 of the third to make it 5-2.
Pacioretty's power-play goal made it 6-2 at 15:59.
Nielsen made it 6-3 at 17:36.

Goal of the game

Hudon's goal at 4:46 of the second period.

Saves of the game

Price's two saves on Luke Glendening at 13:18 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Shaw's goal at 5:29 of the second period.

They said it

"I thought we were playing well without Carey -- we got some good goaltending from the other guys -- but having him back is a jolt for everyone's confidence. He's a great goalie, and he will win games for us when he plays like this." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien
"This is stupid hockey -- just craziness. We don't have enough guys with that real crazy commitment to win, and we better find that. This is 100 percent a crucial part of the season and we need to start winning games." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill

Need to know

Canadiens center Jonathan Drouin did not play after sustaining a lower-body injury Wednesday. Julien did not have an update on his status after the game. … Gallagher's three points made him Montreal's leading scorer for the season. He has 18 points (12 goals, six assists), one more than Drouin. … Mantha, who grew up near Montreal in Longueuil, Quebec, has four goals in seven games against the Canadiens.

What's next

Canadiens: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVA Sports, FS-D, NHL.TV)
Red Wings: At the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVA Sports, FS-D, NHL.TV)