OTTAWA -- The Montreal Canadiens are forging a reputation as the comeback kids of the NHL.

Alexander Radulov's shootout goal was the finishing touch on the Canadiens' 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators in a first-place battle Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre.

The Canadiens lead the league with 11 victories when trailing after two periods. It was also their 15th overtime win this season.

"We've been falling behind sometimes after two, and we've showed a lot of character coming back in the third period, not giving up," said Canadiens coach Claude Julien, whose team surrendered an Erik Karlsson goal that tied with game with 4:57 left in regulation. "Even that goal didn't seem to rattle us."

The victory gave the Canadiens (40-23-8) a two-point bulge over the Senators (39-23-8) in the battle for the top spot in the Atlantic Division, with Ottawa owning a game in hand. The teams meet again Sunday night at Bell Centre.

Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher scored 31 seconds apart in the sixth minute of the third period for the Canadiens, erasing a 2-1 deficit. Andrew Shaw also scored for Montreal.

Derick Brassard and Ryan Dzingel had the other Ottawa goals.

"You always like to get one point at least, so it's good we squeaked a point out there," Dzingel said. "Obviously we want to win that one. We battled back a few times then couldn't get the job done. I think we played well, but obviously not well enough to win."

Carey Price made 28 saves in the Montreal net while Craig Anderson, who missed the previous two games with a lower-body injury, stopped 29 shots.

Anderson was strong early as the Canadiens outshot Ottawa 22-12 in the first half but led just 1-0. The goal by Gallagher, a shot from the left wing face-off circle that beat him on the short side, is one he'd no doubt like to have back.

"I've had so many of these good chances the last month or so, and the ones that go in are kind of goals like that," said Gallagher, who, with eight goals, will almost certainly finish with his lowest total in five seasons. "You just kind of stick with it, and I thought the team did a good job of that. There are ups and downs throughout the game, and for us to get down and then for them to tie it late, and (we) come out with the win is a good feeling."

Price stopped Bobby Ryan and Kyle Turris in the shootout, while Paul Byron scored for Montreal before Radulov ended the game.

"We've got the guys who know how to put games away, know how to finish it," said Shaw, no doubt referring to Radulov's fourth shootout goal in five tries this season.

The Senators had a power play in the last 1:56 of overtime but couldn't solve Price.

"When you're in overtime and you get a power play, and you don't find a way to score, it's obviously a game changer," Brassard said. "I wish we could have scored a goal for Andy there. The first period and the second, he was outstanding for us."

The slow start by the Senators had to do with them being "nervous," coach Guy Boucher said.

"I thought we could have had more poise," he said. "The thing again is: When you get a little nervous, you go back to your habits. And our habit is not shooting. So we went exactly back to that. We got our goal, then all of a sudden we started shooting again. That's when we got another one after that, and that's how we got the third one.

"We know it's a disease we've got. We're looking for extra plays. It's very rare you're going to beat a goalie the caliber of Carey Price with some pretty extra plays. When he sees the puck, he's going to stop it."

Julien figured the game was played the way most would have predicted.

"What happened tonight was probably what every hockey expert would have thought of: a real tight game, two teams playing well, playing with lots of confidence, playing for a top spot," he said. "That's what we saw tonight and probably was expected."

NOTES: Senators D Mark Borowiecki returned to the lineup after a four-game absence, meaning D Fredrik Claesson was a healthy scratch. Other Senators scratches were F Chris DiDomenico and D Jyrki Jokipakka. ... Senators LW Ryan Dzingel played his 100th NHL game. ... Healthy Canadiens scratches were RW Michael McCarron, LW Andreas Martinsen and D Alexei Emelin. ... Canadiens C Brian Flynn was also scratched with a suspected upper-body injury.