Laine breaks tie in 3rd, Canadiens defeat Red Wings

DETROIT – Patrik Laine scored a go-ahead goal with 7:58 to play and the Montreal Canadiens held on to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 at Little Caesars Arena on Friday.

Emil Heineman and Jake Evans each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (13-16-3), who had 33 shots – the first time this season they have gotten more than 30.

“I don’t think we were particularly aiming to get more than 30, but we definitely want to get more chances,” Evans said. “It’s a good sign when you are getting 30 shots, though.”

Sam Montembeault made 25 saves.

Patrick Kane, Joe Veleno and Tyler Motte scored for the Red Wings (13-15-4), while Michael Rasmussen had two assists. Cam Talbot made 29 saves.

“We had won three of four and this one was there for the taking,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “We got the third goal to go ahead and then we had a couple mishaps to give up two more.”

The teams play again Saturday in Montreal.

“That’s the best part of this – we get a quick turnaround and play these guys again tomorrow,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. “We just have to play with a little more intensity and minimize our mistakes. You look at their goals and we just had some key breakdowns.”

Heineman gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 7:09, beating Talbot with a wrist shot that deflected off Erik Gustafsson’s stick blade.

Kane tied the game at 13:27, beating Montembeault high on the blocker side from a tight angle.

The Red Wings nearly took the lead at 18:04. Lucas Raymond flipped the puck over the net off Montembeault’s head, but he was able to stay bent over with the puck resting on the back of his neck.

Evans scored shorthanded to give Montreal a 2-1 lead at 18:31, but Veleno tied the game at 19:27, tipping in Jeff Petry’s shot.

Motte gave the Red Wings a 3-2 lead at 1:40 of the third period, sliding home Rasmussen’s pass after he created a turnover deep in Montreal’s end.

“I don’t think anyone was worried when we went down there,” Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle said. “We were all over (Talbot) and we were playing really well.”

Arber Xhekaj made it 3-3 at 8:42, scoring his first goal of the season with a wrist shot from the left circle.

Laine gave Montreal a 4-3 lead with a power-play goal at 12:02, firing a slap shot through the shaft of Moritz Seider’s stick and past Talbot.

“I would not want to have to block his shot,” Evans said. “It looks so effortless and then it does that.”

Alexandre Carrier played 18:37 in his Canadiens debut, including 3:10 on the penalty kill, one day after being acquired from the Nashville Predators for Justin Barron.

“He was just so good tonight,” said Guhle, his defensive partner. “I didn’t know that much about him, but he’s a really good skater and he makes quick plays with the puck.

“Obviously, he has to get used to our system stuff, but it is fun to play with him.”

Montreal finished with two even-strength goals, one on the power play and one shorthanded.

“We went 0-fer on the power play, they scored a shortie and obviously, they got the power-play goal at the end,” Lalonde said. “That was a huge part of the game – our inability to execute on special teams.”

NOTES: Evans suffered a facial cut in a third-period collision with Kane, but returned to the game without needing stitches. … With defense partner Simon Edvinsson out with an upper-body injury, Seider played 27:17, including 4:46 on the power play and 3:01 shorthanded. He was a plus-1 with two shots.