Montreal survive Canucks rally in 5-2 win

Up and down seasons do not especially point to overall success and the Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks are proving that point this campaign.

Neither club has a winning record and whether it is advancing age or injuries, the result is the same.

On Sunday, the Canadiens found a way to a 5-2 win over the Canucks, Vancouver’s fourth straight loss.

Brendan Gallagher struck in the third period for the Habs to give them the game-winner and a 3-2 lead near the midway point of the final frame; the win was the second straight for Montreal.

“The last couple of games have been two of our better games this year,” Gallagher said. “So hopefully after the break we come back and have the same mindset.”

Paul Byron and Max Pacioretty also scored for the Canadiens.

The Habs led the game 2-0 on the strength of goals from Alex Galchenyuk, and Karl Alzner but surrendered the lead when the Canucks rallied to tie at 2-2 when Daniel Sedin and Michael Del Zotto scored.

“Our effort yesterday was really good, it was our best game in a while, and we were expecting the same tonight, and we didn’t get that tonight,” Sedin said. “But if the effort is there, we’ll get a result. And I think we saw yesterday that we can be a good team, but it has to be better than tonight.”

The Canucks dropped to 16-20-6 on the season and have lost four straight.

“We weren’t happy with our play the first two periods but going into the third, we said, ‘we’re still in this hockey game, we’ve got a chance for the two points,’ ” Del Zotto said. “We come back and tie it up, we’ve got to find a way to at least come out with one point there. A disappointing game for us tonight, especially after how we played yesterday.”

The Habs improved to 18-20-4 with the second win in a row; the streak comes after a five-game skid.

“We went through a dry spell like I’ve never really experienced around here before, but hopefully we’re out of it,” Gallagher said.

Carey Price made 34 saves to pick up the win.

[WATCH: All Canucks vs. Canadiens highlights]

Anders Nilsson made 40 saves in the loss.

“The guys are battling, for sure. That’s really good to see, but I feel like we need to get that first win out of the way, and then we’ll be a lot better,” Sedin said after the loss.