Max Pacioretty, Paul Byron fuel Canadiens' rally

EDMONTON -- Paul Byron and Max Pacioretty each scored twice in the third period to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Sunday.
Byron scored with 6:27 left to tie it 1-1 after taking a pass from Phillip Danault and sliding a shot past Cam Talbot.
Pacioretty scored 1:09 later to put the Canadiens up 2-1.
"We stuck with it, we had a lot of chances to tie it and [Byron] broke through and got us going," Pacioretty said. "Once he did that, we definitely had new energy, we were buzzing, we were in their zone making a lot of plays. I really liked our game. I think we played a strong game."

WATCH: All Canadiens vs. Oilers highlights
Byron scored into an empty net with 1:07 remaining to make it 3-1 with Talbot on the bench for an extra skater. Pacioretty scored a second empty-net goal with 27 seconds left.
Carey Price, who returned to the lineup after missing one game because of the flu, made 24 saves for Montreal (39-22-8) for his sixth consecutive win and first career victory at the Oilers.
"We didn't deviate from our game, even if it was 1-0, we kept doing what we thought we had to keep doing to win the hockey game," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. "Eventually, it paid off and even after tying the game we didn't sit back. We kept going after them and those are things that impressed me from this hockey club."

Montreal moved into first place in the Atlantic Division, two points ahead of the Ottawa Senators.
Milan Lucic scored for Edmonton (35-24-9), who have lost three straight (0-2-1) and have fallen to fourth place in the Pacific Division. Talbot made 37 saves.
"It is a tough one to swallow considering we were in control going into the third period," Lucic said. "At the end of the day, all of us believe in this group and what we have done so far in this season. We can't dwell on frustration or start feeling sorry for ourselves at this time of the year. Most of all, we also can't count on other teams to get the job done for us. The other teams have been winning their games and unfortunately we haven't."
Lucic scored at 4:17 of the second period to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. He went in on a 2-on-1 break with Jordan Eberle and shot the puck through the pads of Price.
"I think they were pressuring us well before they scored their first goal," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "They played a heck of a game, disrupted a lot of our exits out of the zone, got sticks on pucks, batted things down, disrupted the flow of the game. So give them some credit for being effective in what they did."

Goal of the game

Danault took a pass from Brendan Gallagher behind the net and found Byron in front for the goal.

Save of the game

Price slid across his crease to make a save on Pat Maroon at 10:03 of the third period to keep the score 1-0.

Unsung performance of the game

Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry had six shots on goal and a game-high five blocked shots.

Highlight of the game

Pacioretty centered the puck towards the net from the left boards, which hit Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom's stick and bounced in up over Talbot for the game-winning goal.

They said it

"He's a great player. He's huge for us offensively and he's not just scoring meaningless goals either, those are huge goals. He broke through tonight and got the game winner against Nashville. He's got some good poise with the puck and it shows and was rewarded." -- Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty on forward Paul Byron
"On the winner, Cam [Talbot] made so many saves so it's too bad that type of goal went in on him, deflected off [Oscar] Klefbom's stick and went in." -- Oilers coach Todd McLellan
"We don't have a chance to come back and tie it and, eventually, take the lead if Carey Price is not being Carey Price back there. Since I've been here, you've been able to rely on him whether you're up a goal or down a goal to keep the game where it's at and time after time he proves you right," -- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher

Need to know

Byron had an assist on Montreal's third goal to give him three points in a game for the first time in his NHL career.

What's next

Canadiens: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SNE, RDS, CSN-CH, NHL.TV)
Oilers: Host the Dallas Stars on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-SW, NHL.TV)