Larkin scores twice, gives Red Wings OT victory against Canadiens

DETROIT -- Dylan Larkin scored his second goal of the game 1:41 into overtime to give the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 victory against the Montreal Canadiens at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.

Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault deflected Lucas Raymond's shot from the right and Larkin scored on the rebound from just under the left circle for his 300th NHL point.
"I saw he was just out of his net and I just tried to hit that spot," Larkin said. "That's a huge win for us."
Alex Nedeljkovic made 35 saves for Detroit (8-6-2).
"I thought he was outstanding with controlling rebounds tonight," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "When you are an undersized goalie (6-0, 203), you need the puck to stick to you, and that's even more true against Montreal. They are so good at going hard to the net. You can't give them rebounds."

Chris Wideman had a goal and an assist, and Montembeault made 22 saves for Montreal (4-10-2) after replacing injured starter Jake Allen late in the first period.
Allen was removed from the game by the league concussion spotter with 48 seconds left in the first period after a hard collision with Larkin, who was pushed from behind by Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry.
"I was worried about Jake there," Larkin said. "I'm at full speed, Petry is at full speed, and it was just a little push. I was at the end of my shift and I was tired and I just couldn't do anything to avoid it.

"It was a tough play and I feel really bad about it."
The Red Wings took advantage, scoring twice on their first three shots against Montembeault to take a 2-1 lead.
"It's a tough situation for us when Jake can't come back for the second period, and then they take the lead," Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme said. "But we kept playing and I thought we had a really good third period. It's a shame we couldn't win it in overtime."
Larkin tied the game 1-1 at 2:36 of the second period from a sharp angle, and Pius Suter gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead at 3:21.
"Obviously, I didn't want to come into the game and give up two goals," Montembeault said. "But I couldn't let that bother me. They were on the board and there was nothing I could do about it. I just tried to keep making saves and give us a chance to come back."

Wideman tied it 2-2 at 2:33 of the third, one-timing Artturi Lehkonen's pass inside the post. Lehkonen, who had just slammed into the boards, made the pass from his knees.
"That was an incredible play," Wideman said. "I don't even know how he saw me, but he gave me a perfect pass."
Montreal took a 1-0 lead at 4:39 of the first period on Ryan Poehling's first goal of the season.
"It felt great to get one," said Poehling, who hadn't scored since Jan. 13, 2020 against the Calgary Flames. "I thought we played a very good game, but we fell asleep for a couple minutes in the second period. That's all it takes in this league."
NOTES: The Canadiens, who play Sunday at the Boston Bruins, called up goalie Cayden Primeau from Laval of the American Hockey League. … Red Wings forward Mitchell Stephens will "miss some time" after sustaining a lower-body injury from a collision with the boards in the second period, Blashill said. … Larkin has 122 goals and 178 assists in 445 games in seven seasons with the Red Wings. … Poehling played 12:35 after being recalled from Laval on Thursday. … Canadiens forward Michael Pezzetta had an assist for his first NHL point in his sixth NHL game.