Mantha pushes Wings past Habs in OT
MONTREAL -- Anthony Mantha scored the game-winner with less than a minute to go in overtime to lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 2-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
Justin Abdelkader scored in regulation for the Red Wings. Artturi Lehkonen replied for Montreal (41-23-9).
Jimmy Howard stopped 35 shots for Detroit (29-32-11), while Al Montoya made 34 saves for the Canadiens.
After getting off to a quick start in their last outing, the Canadiens came out on the other end against Detroit, taking a penalty just 39 seconds into the contest.
The Red Wings' power play, which has spent nearly the entire season in the NHL's basement before moving up a spot on the weekend, connected for the third time in the past four games to put them on the board first.
Niklas Kronwall fired a shot from the point and Abdelkader, uncovered in front of the net, got a couple of whacks on the rebound before lifting a backhander over Montoya's pad 53 seconds into the game.
Detroit had the edge on the shot clock in the early going, putting up four before Montreal recorded its first nearly four minutes in.
Claude Julien's crew appeared to find its legs in the second period, outshooting the Red Wings 14-9. A power play halfway through the frame opened the door for the potential equalizer, with Shea Weber hammering several slap shots but none made it into the net.
The Canadiens had arguably their best opportunity of the night to tie it up midway through the third period with the man advantage. Montreal generated momentum while Detroit's Luke Glendening was without a stick and Howard lost his a few moments later but couldn't convert.
Lehkonen tied it at 17:31 of the third period when he fired a wrister from the top of the right circle that beat Howard glove-side.
NOTES: Red Wings D Xavier Ouellet, who grew up in Montreal, suited up for a game at the Bell Centre for the first time in his career. ... The Canadiens made one line-up change from Sunday, inserting C Steve Ott to face his former team. ... Montreal scratched RW Michael McCarron, LW Andreas Martinsen and D Brandon Davidson. ... Detroit scratched C Darren Helm and C Ben Street. ... Canadiens coach Claude Julien coached his 1,012th NHL game, tying Terry Murray for 24th place for the most games as an NHL head coach.