EditorsNote: Shortens hed; corrects Price save total (5th graf)
Montreal's Tomas Tatar scored the game-deciding goal in the shootout as the Canadiens handed Vegas coach Peter DeBoer his first loss with his new team, beating the visiting Golden Knights 5-4 on Saturday night.
Tatar and Ilya Kovalchuk potted goals as Montreal won the extra session 2-1 after allowing two late goals to force overtime. Jonathan Marchessault scored for Vegas, and both teams moved their shootout record to 3-1.
Canadiens goalie Carey Price stuffed Reilly Smith's tying bid to end the shootout in the bottom of the fourth round.
Nick Cousins scored twice, Kovalchuk and Joel Armia contributed goals, Dale Weise assisted on two markers and the Canadiens were victorious for the fourth time in their last five games despite blowing a three-goal lead.
Price stopped 30 shots to improve to 20-16-4. The 2014-15 Vezina Trophy winner recorded a 20-win season for the 10th time in his career.
One of just three NHL teams, along with New Jersey and Detroit, with losing records on home ice, the Canadiens won for only the fourth time in their last 17 contests at Bell Centre (4-9-4). Montreal improved to 10-12-4 at home.
Marchessault, Paul Stastny, Max Pacioretty and Smith scored, and Shea Theodore added three assists for Vegas, which is 0-2-1 in Montreal. Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves.
Mired in a 15-game goal-less drought, Cousins took a pass from Weise, cut through the slot and put a forehand shot on Fleury. The puck barely slid across the goal line at 5:51 for his sixth goal.
Kovalchuk grabbed a rebound off a shot by Phillip Danault, then put back two rebound attempts. The second one beat Fleury at 12:33 for the Russian left winger's fourth goal in eight games since being acquired by Montreal on Jan. 3.
The Canadiens scored their third through traffic in front of Fleury as Brett Kulak's long drive was deflected in by Armia for his 13th goal.
Marchessault cut it to 3-1 in the second when he gathered a clever pass from Smith from behind Price and buried a marker at 9:08. Stastny's unassisted rebound goal at 14:47 brought Vegas to within one.
Cousins pushed the lead back to two goals when he finished a two-on-one with Weise at 9:40 of the third to make it 4-2.
But Pacioretty and Smith both scored with the net empty in the final two minutes -- the tying goal with just 7.5 seconds left.
--Field Level Media
