Max Pacioretty’s second goal of the game, on a breakaway 19 seconds into overtime, propelled the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night.
Pacioretty took a pass from Jeff Petry and skated in on Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen for the win. Montreal was playing its fifth straight overtime game and improved to 3-0-2 in the stretch.
Pacioretty has 33 game-winning goals since 2013-14, trailing only Washington’s Alex Ovechkin (35) during that stretch.
Dallas’ Esa Lindell scored with 2:47 left in regulation time to tie the game.
Nathan Beaulieu had a goal and two assists and Alexander Radulov also scored for the Canadiens. Al Montoya stopped 39 shots and Shea Weber added two assists.
Tyler Seguin and John Klingberg also scored for the Stars and Lehtonen finished with 29 saves.
Radulov and Pacioretty scored power-play goals to give the Canadiens a 3-2 lead 4:13 into the third period.
Beaulieu scored the game’s first goal at 10:38 of the first period. He took a pass from Phillip Danault in the left faceoff circle and sent a wrist shot past Lehtonen into the right side of the net.
A minute and a half later, Danault skated in after Jordie Benn’s shot trickled behind Montoya and backhanded the puck down the ice.
Seguin tied the game at 1-1 by deflecting in Stephen Johns’ slap shot from the right point with 5:16 left in the first.
Dallas’ power play had been just 3 for 24 (13 per cent) in the previous seven games. The goal was the eighth in 34 penalty-killing opportunities (24 per cent) against Montreal in nine-plus games.
Klingberg’s power-play goal with about 7 1/2 minutes left in the second put the Stars up 2-1.