Nick Suzuki notched the game-winning goal, Montreal finally solved hot Philadelphia goalie Carter Hart, and the Canadiens staved off first-round elimination Wednesday night with a 5-3 win over the top-seed Flyers in Toronto.

Montreal's Game 5 win tightened the best-of-seven series at 3-2. The eighth-seeded Canadiens will be the "home" side Friday in Game 6 as they attempt to force a deciding Game 7 on Sunday.

Montreal fourth-liner Joel Armia had two goals, Brendan Gallagher and Phillip Danault scored, and Brett Kulak and Jonathan Drouin posted two helpers each. Goaltender Carey Price recorded 26 saves.

Jakub Voracek netted two goals and had an assist, Joel Farabee scored and Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier had two assists for Flyers, who were 3-for-7 on the power play.

Hart met two benchmarks for just the second time in his two-year career -- starting on back-to-back nights and for the third time in four nights -- and made 28 saves after producing back-to-back shutouts in Games 3 and 4.

The 22-year-old netminder entered the game with a 120-minute scoreless streak, but the Canadiens ended that 2:53 in when Armia netted an unlikely short-handed marker on a friendly bounce off the lively Scotiabank Arena end boards that came out well past Hart.

At 1:45 of the second period, second-year center Jesperi Kotkaniemi received a major for boarding defenseman Travis Sanheim, who was cut in the collision on the boards. Kotkaniemi also was assessed a game misconduct and sent off for the game's remainder.

Fifty seconds into the major infraction, Voracek stroked a one-timer past Price, and the right winger scored again when he slipped a puck through the crease that bounced off defenseman Ben Chiarot at 6:37.

But Armia tallied high on a sharp-angle snipe at 10:12 to tie it 2-2. Gallagher then batted in a pass out of mid-air at 11:30 on his club's fifth power play for his first goal on his 37th shot of the playoffs as the Canadiens grabbed a 3-2 lead.

Twenty-two seconds later, Farabee's goal tied it 3-3 at 10:37 of the third. Suzuki, who added an assist, easily potted the go-ahead goal off a sweet feed from Drouin behind the net.

Hart left the net for the extra skater with 90 seconds left, but Danault scored an empty-netter with 17.7 seconds remaining to lock down the win.

--Field Level Media