In Montreal, Sean Monahan scored off the power play at 14:42 of the third period to get the Canadiens even with the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-4, and eventually force extra time.
In the extra session, Mike Hoffman scored the winner for a 5-4 victory over the Penguins.
“I think everyone’s chipping in and buying in, we’re playing the right way,” Hoffman said. “We’re having fun with each other, working hard, and the chemistry is great on the ice and great off the ice as well.”
Jake Allen made 20 saves in the Habs win.
Montreal improved to 8-6-1.
Josh Anderson staked the Canadiens to a 1-0 lead in the first period.
The Penguins responded in the middle frame with two goals; Jeff Petry and Rickard Rakell scored to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead they carried into the third period.
The two teams traded goals in the third, starting with Cole Caufield scoring with 49 seconds gone in the frame.
“No one got down on themselves, it was just to stick with the plan and keep fighting,” Hoffman said. “And you know, we bounced back a few times tonight and that just shows the character that this group is starting to have, and it’s a good thing to be a part of.”
The Pens’ Evgeni Malkin and Montreal’s Nick Suzuki traded goals for a 3-3 tie.
“We’re managing the puck really well,” said Suzuki, the Canadiens captain. “It’s something we struggled with a lot last year.”
Pittsburgh took their final lead on a strike from Brock McGinn at 4-3.
Pittsburgh dropped to 6-6-3.
“Anytime you get five out of six points out of three games on the road, I think most coaches would probably take that,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “But when it’s there for you to get six, it’s a little bit disappointing. We knew it was going to be a tough game for us coming into it. Just logistically, it’s one of those games where you know it’s going to be a tough one, and give Montreal credit, they played really well.”
Tristan Jarry made 37 saves in the Pens loss.
“Obviously we got some timely goals and that helped us, but I think we were in the [defensive] zone a lot tonight,” Jarry said. “They were putting a lot of pressure on us, they were getting pucks down low and putting pucks to the net, and I think timely goals kept us in the game, and ultimately we want to be on the other side of it.”
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