Brendan Gallagher scored with 10.5 seconds remaining to lift the host Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday.
An errant pass by St. Louis defenseman Colton Parayko was chipped by Tomas Tatar to Gallagher, who popped the puck over Blues goaltender Jake Allen for the game-winning goal, his fourth.
Max Domi and Mike Reilly each had their first goals for Montreal.
In his return after missing two games with the flu, goaltender Carey Price made 23 saves for Montreal, which has won three straight and four of six to start the season.
Vince Dunn and Brayden Schenn scored for the Blues, who have lost five of six, and Allen had 20 saves.
Acquired from Arizona in June for Alex Galchenyuk, Domi scored his first goal as a Canadien when he led a 2-on-1 rush after a neat outlet pass from Artturi Lehkonen and finished with a backhander that beat Allen just 39 seconds in.
That was good news for Domi, whose noteworthy moment so far this season was when he sucker-punched Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad last month in an exhibition game, leading to the suspension of the 23-year-old Domi for the remainder of the preseason.
Despite having forward Jaden Schwartz back in the lineup after missing two games, the Blues were not sharp early, putting just three shots on Price and failing on their lone power play in the first.
Dunn tied it 1-1 when he blasted a shot past Price from the NHL Face-Off logo just inside the blue line at 3:21 of the second -- the club's fifth straight game with a power-play goal and his second marker this season.
Reilly kept the puck in the offensive zone on a power play, tightroping past Schenn at the blue line, before wristing his first goal by Allen at 7:42 for a 2-1 Montreal lead.
The tally was the first for Reilly in 27 games, dating back to last year with Minnesota. The defenseman also assisted on Domi's goal.
Schenn tied it with his third goal at 16:31 as the Blues finally connected on their third of a trio of power plays in the third period.
--Field Level Media
St. Louis | Montreal | |
Vince Dunn 1 | Points | Mike Reilly 2 |
Vince Dunn 1 | Goals | Mike Reilly 1 |
Ryan O'Reilly 1 | Assists | Mike Reilly 1 |
Vince Dunn 1 | Power Play Goals | Mike Reilly 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Jake Allen .870 | Save Percentage | Carey Price .920 |
Jake Allen 20 | Saves | Carey Price 23 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
St. Louis | 25 | 2 | 2-5 | 3-4 | 13 | 29 |
Montreal | 23 | 3 | 1-4 | 3-5 | 15 | 19 |