MONTREAL _ The Detroit Red Wings got terrific goaltending from Jimmy Howard and won the special-teams battle.
The Montreal Canadiens ruined Howard's shutout bid late in regulation Tuesday at Bell Centre, but Anthony Mantha secured a celebration when he scored in overtime to notch a 2-1 victory over the Atlantic Division-leading Montreal Canadiens.
Howard had made 23 saves and Justin Abdelkader converted on a power play to give the Wings a 1-0 lead going into the third period.
Howard stopped Brendan Gallagher on a net-front chance as the Habs pushed to start the third period. Al Montoya stopped Frans Nielsen as he tried a shot from the left circle.
The Wings faced a third penalty kill at 7:38. Howard stopped Max Pacioretty and Jeff Petry to survive that stretch. Henrik Zetterberg's line provided some relief at even strength with a good offensive zone shift. Howard followed up with a save on Alexander Radulov. Riley Sheahan tried for his first goal of the season with a slap shot.
There was 2:29 left in regulation when Artturi Lehkonen scored top shelf to tie it up. Howard made 35 saves through regulation. Mantha went top shelf with 49.6 seconds left in overtime.
Abdelkader scored 53 seconds into the game by being in front of the net, enabling him to swipe a backhand behind Montoya.
Andrew Shaw took off on a breakaway on the next shift, but Mike Green hustled after him to prevent a scoring chance from developing. The Wings, who were playing for the second time in two nights, grabbed the momentum to continue good offensive zone time, while doing a solid job preventing pucks from reaching Howard in their own end during the first 10 minutes.
A night after coughing up two power-play goals, the Wings were able to disrupt the Canadiens when Niklas Kronwall went for interference at 12:33.
The Wings continued to sustain pressure back at even strength, getting inside shots on Montoya. When Howard did face a shot _ such as the slap shot by Phillip Danault from the top of the left circle, Howard leapt to cover the puck. The Wings outshot the Habs, 12-8 in the first period.
Howard opened the second period with another save on Danault, this time as he threatened from the doorstep, part of an early barrage from the Canadiens. The Wings worked hard to keep the Canadiens off the board during their second power play, with Xavier Ouellet coming up with a couple of blocks and Howard denying Andrei Markov on a slap shot. Lehkonen threw a backhand on net and though the puck snuck into the paint, Howard lucked out as his kick sent the puck back out. Drew Miller took off on a breakaway after a Nathan Beaulieu turnover but was stopped by Montoya.
