Canucks rally twice for OT win against Canadiens

VANCOUVER-- Elias Pettersson scored 13 seconds into overtime for the Vancouver Canucks, who rallied twice for a 7-6 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Rogers Arena on Monday.

Pettersson scored five-hole on Sam Montembeault as he drove to the net after Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson fell down and lost the puck in his own zone.
"I had a lane towards the goal and I just tried to do a long motion, beat him five-hole," said Pettersson, who also had two assists. "I don't know if it was relief to score that goal or whatever, but just the overall emotion all game, to be down four and comeback, be down one again and then tie it at the end, we had a lot of emotions and I'm glad we came out on top tonight."

Ilya Mikheyev scored twice, and Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and an assist for the Canucks (11-12-3), who trailed 4-0 after the first period and again 6-5 late in the third after taking the lead.
"Our team is starting to believe they can, when they get down, still make a game of it," Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau said. "And that's a belief that if you have, you're never out of it."
Spencer Martin allowed four goals on nine shots before being replaced by Collin Delia, who made 15 saves in his Canucks debut.
"I honestly believed the whole time," Delia said. "You definitely don't draw it up like that, but there's great parity in this League and it's the age of offense, so there's going to be scoring in these games."

Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist, Jordan Harris had two assists, and Montembeault made 25 saves for the Canadiens (12-11-2), who have lost three of four (1-2-1).
"All things considered, the emotional rollercoaster we went through in this game and how we managed it, I'm proud of the guys," Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said.
After Vancouver had scored five straight goals to take the lead, Christian Dvorak tied it 5-5 at 15:25 of the third period on a rebound in front.
Josh Anderson then put Montreal back in front 6-5 at 17:00 when the rebound of his shot deflected in off the skate of Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes.

However, Kuzmenko tied it 6-6 with 1:35 remaining in regulation, redirecting a slap pass from J.T. Miller seven seconds into a power play.
"You're up 4-0, and a 10-15 minute lapse and the lead is gone, and then we came back and lost it again," Dvorak said. "It was a weird one and definitely hurts a little bit."
Cole Caufield gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 7:49 of the first period with a one-timer from the left circle after Sheldon Dries turned the puck over on a clearing attempt.
Suzuki made it 2-0 at 12:34 when his wrist shot off the rush deflected in off Martin's glove, and Sean Monahan tapped in a backdoor pass from Suzuki shortly after a power play expired to extend the lead to 3-0 at 14:57.

Michael Pezzetta scored his first of the season with a backhand in front on a rush to make it 4-0 at 16:17.
"I guess we didn't put it away," Montreal forward Jake Evans said. "Maybe that fifth goal would have done it, but it's just a weird game. … Hopefully we can learn to put that extra one in and put the nail in the coffin."
Conor Garland made it 4-1 at 16:44 of the second period when he got behind the defense and deked Montembeault for his first goal since Oct. 27 (18 games).
Mikheyev cut it to 4-2 at 18:28 off a pass from Pettersson from behind the net.
Bo Horvat scored his 20th goal of the season to make it 4-3 at 4:02 of the third. He beat Montembeault from near the left post after Nils Hoglander's initial redirection hit off him in front.
"Once we give that third one up, you kind of go on your heels a little," Evans said.

Mikheyev tied it 4-4 at 5:45, one-timing a cross-crease pass from Pettersson.
Jack Studnicka put the Canucks in front 5-4 at 8:49 after intercepting a pass from Montembeault behind the net, skating out in front, and lifting a shot over the goalie as he tried to scramble back in the crease.
"At the end of the day, I don't care how we did it, we got it done," Horvat said. "Obviously, it was not pretty. We made it pretty hard on ourselves, but we showed a lot of resilience tonight. It was a fun one. Monday Night Football game."
NOTES:Monahan left the game at 8:53 of the second period and did not return. There was no update postgame. … Canadiens defenseman David Savard did not play because of an upper-body injury. … Miller's assist was his 300th in the NHL.