Alexei Emelin, Max Pacioretty and Paul Byron scored in a 62-second span of the third period to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 5-4 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday night.
Alex Galchenyuk, back from a knee injury suffered Dec. 4, and Brian Flynn also scored for Montreal (27-11-6).
Brandon Pirri, Rick Nash, J.T. Miler and Derek Stepan scored for the Rangers (28-15-1), who were coming off a 4-2 loss at home to Toronto on Friday night. It was the first time in eight occasions the Rangers failed to win the second of back-to-back games this season. It also ended their four-game winning run in road games.
Montreal had Galchenyuk and Andrew Shaw back from injuries but Shaw's game lasted only 16:56 before he was tossed. Shaw, whose interference penalty nullified a Montreal goal at 4:00, knocked Jesper Fast over with an open ice-hit and then fought Miller, drawing an interference major, a fighting major and a game misconduct. Fast was shaken up but stayed in the game.
Antti Raanta, who stopped all 10 shots he faced, left after the first period with a lower-body injury and was replaced by Henrik Lundqvist, who has a history of struggling in Montreal and let in five goals on 22 shots.
Final shots were 33-32 in New York's favour.
The Rangers needed only four seconds into a power play to get the opening goal when Pirri wired a shot in off a goalpost on his off-wing at 12:24 of the first period.
Galchenyuk scored 3:08 into the second with a deflection of Mark Barberio's point shot, but Nash got it back on a controversial goal at 6:20.
Carey Price made a brilliant save on a Kevin Hayes breakaway but then pulled the goalie out of his crease when his skate got caught in Price's pads. Nash shot into the empty net. After video review, it was ruled a good goal and the sellout Bell Centre crowd booed long and loud.
Montreal got it back at 7:58 when Flynn scored from a scramble in front of Lundqvist but Miller put New York back ahead when he finished a short-handed two-on-one with Hayes after Galchenyuk lost the puck on the right point. It marked the seventh time in eight games that Price has allowed three or more goals.
The Canadiens answered when Emelin's wrist shot from the left point went in off defenceman Adam Clendening's back 10:53 into the third frame.
Pacioretty got his 20th of the season on a breakaway only 36 seconds later and, only 26 seconds after that, Byron backhanded the puck in front and saw it go in off Clendening's stick.
New York got one back at 14:53 when Mats Zuccarello tipped the puck out and Stepan batted it in out of the air at the side of the net.
Montreal's Michel Therrien coached his 800th NHL game.