Predators 2, Canadiens 1 (SO)
MONTREAL -- Right winger Craig Smith scored the shootout winner to lift the Nashville Predators to a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night at the Bell Centre.
Goaltender Mike Condon stopped 29 shots for Montreal (28-27-5) while Pekka Rinne made 28 saves for the Predators (28-21-11).
Left winger Viktor Arvidsson scored in regulation for Nashville. Right winger Brendan Gallagher connected for the Canadiens.
The Canadiens had a chance to break the ice early in the first when defenseman Nathan Beaulieu broke in on a two-on-one rush with Paul Byron and tossed a backhander through Rinne's pads that sailed through the crease and out.
Soon after, Arvidsson opened the scoring with his sixth of the season. After a brief back-and-forth with center Colin Wilson along the left side, James Neal fired a shot from the top of the left circle. Condon made the save but Arvidsson, battling with defenseman Mark Barberio in front, pounced on the rebound, poking it through the goalie's pads at 3:16.
The Predators held the edge on the shot clock for the better part of the remainder of the period until the Canadiens woke up with a flurry late in the frame.
That ultimately led to Gallagher's tying goal at 18:46. Defenseman Andrei Markov wired a shot from just outside the left circle and Gallagher, parked in front, was there to pounce on the rebound for his 16th of the season.
Smith came close to putting the visitors ahead in the second period when he made quick work of a rebound on a Forsberg shot but was denied by Condon's quick glove.
A poor line change in overtime nearly cost the Canadiens on a 2-on-1 with Smith and center Mike Ribeiro but the puck hit Smith on the follow through of his own shot.
NOTES: Canadiens RW Dale Weise was a late scratch due to the flu. LW Lucas Lessio, who was supposed to be a healthy scratch, drew back in as a replacement. ... Montreal D Mark Barberio returned to the lineup after three games as a scratch, replacing D Tom Gilbert, who missed the game after sustaining a lower-body injury Friday against the Philadelphia Flyers. ... Nashville scratched C Cody Bass and D Barret Jackman. ... The game was the first of a three-game road trip for the Predators, who play the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Tuesday. ... The Canadiens face the Capitals in Washington on Wednesday.