Although it was the power play that Claude Julien was trying to jumpstart in the lead-up to Tuesday's game, it was the Canadiens' penalty kill that got put to the test in the first. Nashville had a pair of power play opportunities, but despite registering four shots on goal with the man advantage, the Preds couldn't convert on either Montreal penalty.
In fact, neither team would get on the board at all in the first, and they headed to the room locked in a scoreless tie with Nashville leading 14-7 in shots.
Ryan Johansen opened the scoring for the Predators just 51 seconds into the middle frame.
Just 2:06 later, Nashville doubled its lead when Calle Jarnkrok beat Carey Price right off the faceoff to make it 2-0.
With Joel Armia in the box for tripping, Filip Forsberg added a third one for the Preds as the game approached the halfway mark.
Forsberg got his second of the night with exactly 4:00 remaining in the second.
After 40, Nashville was leading 4-0 and was ahead 32-21 in shots.
Artturi Lehkonen finally broke the ice for the Canadiens early in the third. After Xavier Ouellet took a shot from near the outside hashmarks, Lehkonen recovered the puck and jammed it past Nashville starter Juuse Saros to get the Habs on the board and break Saros' shutout streak that spanned more than 180 minutes.
