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Pacioretty propels Canadiens to 6th straight win

Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports / USA TODAY Sports

MONTREAL - Max Pacioretty scored the tie-breaking goal in Montreal's three-goal third period as the Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 Thursday night for their sixth straight win.

Alex Galchenyuk and Torrey Mitchell also scored to help Montreal improve to 7-0-1. Carey Price made 29 saves to win for the fourth time in four starts this season.

Alex Killorn scored the lone goal for the Lightning, who lost against an Eastern-Conference opponent for the first time this season. Ben Bishop stopped 23 shots.

With the scored tied 1-1, Pacioretty got the go-ahead goal at 10:23 by beating Bishop glove-side. Blown coverage by the Lightning left the Canadiens' captain all alone on the edge of the face-off circle, and Bishop couldn't see the shot with Andrew Shaw posted firmly in front of goal.

Montreal, coming off a 3-2 win at the New York Islanders the previous night, remained the only NHL team still undefeated in regulation.

Price beat Tampa Bay for the first time in his last eight starts (1-5-2). His previous win against the Lightning was on Dec. 28, 2013.

Price wasn't tested much in the early stages of the game as Tampa Bay didn't get its first shot until 12:14 had elapsed - Killorn from an extremely difficult angle.

After just a four-shot first period, the Lightning were more threatening in the second.

Killorn beat Price for the game's first goal with 3:52 left in the middle period by deflecting home a slap pass from Victor Hedman. Killorn snuck in behind defenseman Alexei Emelin, put himself in a good position just outside the crease and got enough of the puck for his team-leading sixth goal of the season.

The 27-year-old Killorn has scored in six of Tampa's seven games this season.

It was just the second time this season Montreal gave up the first goal of the game.

Price did his best to keep Montreal in the game at the start of the third period, robbing Ondrej Palat from close range with his toe.

Just minutes later, Galchenyuk beat Bishop for his second goal of the season to tie it at 6:12. With the Canadiens on the power play, Andrei Markov fooled the Lightning with a cross-ice pass instead of taking a shot on net. Galchenyuk made no mistake with the one-timer just above Bishop's glove. Jeff Petry got the play started with a spin move at the blue line.

Mitchell added the empty-netter in the game's final minute.

NOTES: Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov fell awkwardly into the boards in the first period, left the game and did not return. ... Canadiens D Mikhail Sergachev was a healthy scratch for the fourth consecutive game. ... Shea Weber saw his four-game point streak come to an end. ... Montreal leads the league with 25 points from its defensemen.

UP NEXT

Lightning: At New Jersey on Saturday night in the fourth game of a six-game trip.

Canadiens: Host Toronto on Saturday night.

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