The Canadian lost the services of its star sniper for the rest of the season, but did not use this excuse to give up.
Rem Pitlick scored in overtime and the Montreal club overcame a two-goal deficit before defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
The Habs were without Cole Caufield for the first time this season, and will be until next fall. The team announced on Saturday morning that the 22-year-old American will need surgery on his right shoulder.
Pitlick played the heroes by surprising Ilya Samsonov on the shield side after 2:14 of play in overtime.
Josh Anderson and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard scored in regulation time for the Canadian (20-24-3). Samuel Montembeault made 36 saves.
Mark Giordano and Calle Jarnkrok had given the Maple Leafs the lead (28-11-8) in the first period. Samsonov stopped 28 shots.
Alex Belzile was recalled from the Laval Rocket to make up for Caufield’s absence.
The Canadiens will continue their longest home stay of the campaign on Tuesday, when they host the Boston Bruins at the Bell Centre.
One way and the other
The game got off to a bad start for the Canadian. Giordano opened the scoring 53 seconds into the game, thanks to a shot from Montembeault’s shield.
The first period was the affair of the Maple Leafs, who had a 15-4 advantage in shots on goal. Zach Aston-Reese also hit the post for the Leafs.
Jarnkrok widened the gap with 2:30 to go, taking advantage of a Conor Timmins snap to shoot into an empty net. Moments later, it was Alex Kerfoot’s turn to hit the post after a perfect drop from Auston Matthews.
The tide turned in the second period, as the Canadiens outshot the Leafs 18-8.
Anderson got the ball rolling for the Habs, beating Samsonov on a perfect one-timer at 1:46.
Matthews came to the rescue of Samsonov a little later, preventing a puck pushed by Nick Suzuki from crossing the goal line.
The Canadian managed to tie the game with 6:25 to go in the second period. Harvey-Pinard hit the mark on a comeback after a great effort from Michael Pezzetta and Belzile.
The third period was the advantage of the Maple Leafs, although the Canadian had some good opportunities to take the lead.
Anderson notably missed the breakaway target for the Habs. For his part, Kirby Dach reached the post late in the engagement, during a four-on-three power play.
At the other end of the rink, Montembeault was flawless against the 14 shots of the Maple Leafs, forcing the presentation of a tiebreaker.
Pitlick finally decided in overtime.