Canadiens edge Kings in shootout

LOS ANGELES -- Paul Byron scored in the fourth round of a shootout to help the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Los Angeles Kings 5-4 at Staples Center on Sunday.
Max Pacioretty scored twice for his first multigoal game of the season, and Alexander Radulov and Andrew Shaw also scored for Montreal (17-6-2). Carey Price made 27 saves.
The Canadiens had not scored more than three goals since Nov. 12 in a 5-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings.
"It was a matter of the puck finally going into the net," Byron scored. "A couple shots, like when we beat [Kings goalie Peter Budaj] five-hole there, in games past those just weren't going in for us. Sometimes you've just got to stay with it, keep getting shots, keep driving the net, keep getting opportunities and everything seems to balance out."

Drew Doughty, Jeff Carter, Nicholas Shore and Trevor Lewis scored for Los Angeles (13-10-2). Peter Budaj made 26 saves.
WATCH: All Canadiens at Kings highlights
"We got four on Price today, which was good," Kopitar said. "But we've got to cut down on our goals-against."
The Kings have allowed 11 goals in their past three games.
"We try to give up, at most, two goals a game," Doughty said. "That's why we lost tonight, because they scored four. The offense wasn't a problem, we did a good job there, but we've got to do a better job defensively."
Shaw tied the game 4-4 at 2:03 of the third period when he scored on a rebound. The Canadiens had a chance to win when Alec Martinez received a tripping penalty with 1:32 left to play, but the Kings killed it off.
Pacioretty gave Montreal a 1-0 lead when he one-timed a cross-ice feed from Andrei Markov from the right circle at 2:30.
The Canadiens and Kings combined for six goals in the second period, four on the power play.
Carter got a shot past Price on the power play 56 seconds into the period to tie the game 1-1 and Shore scored at 3:10 to make it 2-1.

Pacioretty scored his second goal at 5:12 when he deflected a shot off Martinez and it trickled through Budaj's legs.
Doughty momentarily gave the Kings a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal at 10:23, but Lewis took an interference penalty 23 seconds later, opening the door for the Canadiens to score on the power play.
Radulov scored on the man-advantage at 11:50 to tie it 3-3.
Lewis gave the Kings the lead again by beating Price on a breakaway at 17:41 to make it 4-3.
Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk left the game in the third period with a lower-body injury and did not return. Coach Michel Therrien did not have an update following the game, but said Galchenyuk will be evaluated Monday.

Goal of the game

David Desharnais threw a long shot on net and Budaj kicked it right to Shaw, who easily scored on the rebound to tie the game.

Save of the game

Jeff Petry sent a hard slap shot from long range but Budaj gloved it, keeping the score 1-0 in the first period.

Unsung moment of the game

From the side boards, Markov slid a beautiful cross-ice feed to a waiting Pacioretty at the edge of the right circle. He snapped a shot high over Budaj for his first goal of the game.

Highlight of the game

Radulov skated his way through the slot and fooled Budaj when he went to his backhand and sent a shot high over the goalie in the shootout.
"He's got a lot of skill and is patient with the puck. He's fun to watch," Price said. "He does it at practice all the time so I'm not too surprised."

They said it

"The pucks were just going in. I don't know why that was. Both teams were flying and a couple times we got the lead and let them back in it and that was our downfall. When you get the lead you want to get the next goal right away and kind of carry it away from them, but they were able to capitalize pretty quick after we got the lead." -- Kings defenseman Drew Doughty on the scoring in the second period
"We were tenacious. We scored three times in a game when we were behind by one goal and found a way to score that goal to tie the game up. This is a team that doesn't allow a lot of scoring chances so they're good defensively, they play the right way, and were capable to get some big goals for the team." -- Canadiens coach Michel Therrien

Need to know

Kings forward Andy Andreoff was activated from injured reserve Sunday. Andreoff missed 16 games with a thumb injury. He was scratched from the lineup. … Carter has six goals in eight games and leads the Kings with 11 goals. … Radulov has two three-point games this season.

What's next

Canadiens: At the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, SNE, RDS, NHL.TV)
Kings: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, FS-CR, NHL.TV)