PITTSBURGH _ The Penguins closed 2016 in appropriate fashion on Saturday _ by winning.
In typical, resilient fashion, too.
Evgeni Malkin scored a power-play goal at 1:54 of overtime to help the Penguins stretch their winning streak to four with a 4-3 overtime victory against the Montreal Canadiens at PPG Paints Arena.
Trailing, 3-2, with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury pulled, Conor Sheary used his body to redirect a Justin Schultz shot at 19:05 to take the game into overtime.
Then Malkin pumped one from above the right circle, off the post and past Canadiens goaltender Carey Price.
The Penguins raised their overall record to 25-8-5, and the win helped them improve to 10-0-1 in their last 11 at home.
Columbus won earlier Saturday, so the Penguins remain one point shy of the Blue Jackets (56) for the most points in the NHL.
Fleury, the team's unquestioned No. 1 now with Matt Murray out because of a lower-body injury, kept the Penguins in it with a strong third period and a steady overall performance.
He used his chest to stop Brendan Gallagher once, then moved right to left quickly to thwart a two-on-one. Fleury's best save might have been a breakaway stop on Max Pacioretty.
Fleury stopped 37 of 40 shots to improve to 6-0-1 in December.
His goaltending counterpart, Price, was also outstanding, robbing Sheary and Malkin and making 37 of 41 stops.
The first period saw the Penguins unable to score on three power-play chances, with Justin Schultz and Kris Letang _ who returned from a seven-game absence because of a lower-body injury _ each getting time with the top unit.
Montreal grabbed a 1-0 lead on a goal from Alexander Radulov at 4:07 of the first period. Shea Weber entered the zone, left it for Paul Byron, and he slid a nifty pass over to Radulov.
The goal was made possible, in part, by the Penguins allowing the Canadiens entirely too much space entering the zone.
Patric Hornqvist scored the Penguins' first goal, at 1:07 of the second period, off a gorgeous feed from Malkin, who waited for Weber to finish his slide and a passing lane to clear.
All Hornqvist had to do was put his stick on the ice to score his ninth of the season.
The sequence started with a similar diving play from Letang on the defensive end, breaking up a two-on-one, and the assist pulled Malkin into a three-way tie with Crosby and Connor McDavid for the NHL scoring lead with 42 points. He led the NHL in assists in December with 14.
Phil Kessel pushed the Penguins in front, 2-1, at 4:28 of the second. He won a foot race with Ryan Johnston, then went forehand to backhand before beating Price with a shot that hit the goal camera.
Carl Hagelin picked up assists on both goals, giving him two goals and four points in his last three games.
But with 38.5 seconds left before the end of the period, Byron redirected a Jeff Petry shot to pull the Canadiens even at 2.
Flynn made it 3-2 at 2:04 of the third whenever his shot bounced off the post, Chad Ruhwedel's skate and then Fleury's _ a terribly unlucky and rare confluence of events for the Penguins.
No problem, though. Sheary and Malkin did enough to help the Penguins finish 2016 in style.
