Ilya Kovalchuk scored on a rebound at 1:43 of overtime and the host Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 on Saturday night.

Montreal goalie Carey Price stopped Tyson Barrie and the puck bounced to Nick Suzuki on a breakaway. His shot was denied, but Kovalchuk swooped in to send the puck into the net for the victory.

Montreal's Marco Scandella tied the score late in the third period. Xavier Ouellet, Nate Thompson and Suzuki assisted on goals. Price made his 11th start in Montreal's last 13 games and stopped 22 shots as the Canadiens won their third straight. Defenseman Brett Kulak played in his 200th NHL game.

Left wing Jonathan Drouin, who had surgery to repair a torn wrist tendon suffered on Nov. 15, played for the first time in 38 games.

Toronto's John Tavares scored in his 800th game, Alexander Kerfoot and Zach Hyman had assists and goalie Jack Campbell, acquired from Los Angeles to back up injured Frederik Andersen (neck), made his second start in two nights after beating the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. Campbell made 28 saves.

Right wing William Nylander, Toronto's second-leading goal scorer, missed his second straight game due to illness.

The win was the third for Montreal over Toronto this season. The two teams close the regular season on April 4 in Toronto.

The teams played at a spirited pace and engaged in hard play along the boards, but neither was able to find the net or claim a power-play opportunity in the first period.

Toronto used a pair of man advantages to outshoot the Canadiens 14-4 in the second period to take a 21-11 edge through two periods. Montreal worked on one power but failed to find much offense to challenge Campbell in his second straight start over two nights.

The visitors broke through at 1:06 of the third when Tavares put Toronto up 1-0. Hyman started a three-on-two rush and passed to Kerfoot, who dropped a pass to Tavares.

Tavares moved inside the right circle and ripped a shot over Price on the blocker side for the lead. But Montreal produced the next 15 shots on goal, with Scandella rifling home his first goal as a Canadien at 17:27.

--FIeld Level Media