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Desharnais, Canadiens dispatch Red Wings in OT

Oct 22, 2014 - 3:22 AM Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - David Desharnais scored 56 seconds into overtime to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

After P.K. Subban fired a shot from above the left circle, Max Pacioretty took the rebound and had his wrister denied by Jimmy Howard. Desharnais gathered the loose puck at the left side of the net and swatted a backhander over a falling Howard for the game-winner.

Alex Galchenyuk scored the game-tying goal with 3:09 to play in the third period and Carey Price made 27 saves in Montreal's third straight win.

"We have great character on this team," Galchenyuk said. "In the third, we started going to the net and it paid off for us."

Henrik Zetterberg netted Detroit's lone goal and Howard turned aside 34-of-36 shots for the Red Wings, who were coming off two straight wins over Toronto in a home-and-home set.

"I thought they were better than us in the third period," Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock said. "Price helped them by playing the puck and it's harder to get to him."

Pavel Datsyuk, who missed the first five games of the season with a separated right shoulder, tallied an assist in his season debut and appeared to put the Red Wings up 2-0 with just over eight minutes to play in the third.

Datsyuk entered the zone up the right side, skated through the slot and sent a backhander over the shoulder of Price, but the goal was waved off due to Justin Abdelkader's incidental contact with the Montreal netminder.

The Canadiens' late offensive surge translated into a tied game with 3:09 left in regulation. Galchenyuk wrestled with a defender in front of the net, retrieved a loose puck behind the net and beat Howard with a wraparound shot.

Detroit got on the board first with 6:19 to play in the second. Price turned aside Zetterberg's rolling shot from the slot, but the rebound deflected off Subban's foot and the crossbar before crossing the goal line.

Montreal had a prime opportunity late in the second. Howard stopped a blast from the point, but was unable to squeeze the puck. The rebound dribbled over to P.A. Parenteau, who was parked at the side of a wide-open net, but had the puck bounce off the heel of his stick wide.

Game Notes

Montreal has won three straight games against Detroit ... Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall played in his 600th NHL game ... Detroit has killed off 18 straight penalties to start the season ... The Canadiens allowed the first goal for the sixth consecutive game.