Habs game report: Eller strikes in OT as Price makes history

The skinny: Lars Eller scored at 1:21 of overtime to give the Canadiens a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings as Carey Price set a team record with his 43rd victory of the season on Thursday night at the Bell Centre.

The win allowed the Canadiens to stay two points ahead of Tampa Bay in the battle for first place in the Atlantic Division with each team having one game to play.

Specialty items: The much maligned Canadiens power play produced for a sixth consecutive game as Tomas Plekanec scored during a two-man advantage at 11:39 of the third period. His 25th goal of the season tied the game at 3-3 and was made possible when Brendan Smith, who was sitting on the Detroit bench, swatted a loose puck back onto the ice. The goal atoned for a major mistake on the power play earlier in the period when Darren Helm intercepted an Andrei Markov pass intended for P.K. Subban and beat Price on a breakaway 3:34. The Canadiens went 1-for-4 with the extra man and did an excellent job on the penalty kill as the Detroit power play, which ranks second in the NHL, went 0-for-5.

Trading goals: Pavel Datsyuk took advantage of a defensive breakdown to find Tomas Tatar streaking toward the net and Tatar beat Price to open the scoring at 10:19 of the first period. It was Tatar’s 29th goal of the season. Markov tied the score at 17:36 on a slapshot from the blue line. Markov took advantage of traffic in front created by P.A. Parenteau and Devante Smith-Pelly to score his 10th goal of the season.

More of the same: Each team added a goal in the second period, but it was the Canadiens who struck first as the fourth line delivered a go-ahead goal at 6:24. The Canadiens had an odd-man rush and defenceman Jeff Petry went through the middle and redirected a pass from Torrey Mitchell. Petry has points in the last six games (three goals and three assists) while Mitchell’s assist was his first point as a Canadien. Datsyuk tied it on his 26th goal of the season at 8:07 with Henrik Zetterberg picking up his second assist on the night.

Gilbert out: Defenceman Tom Gilbert was a late scratch with an upper-body injury. He was replaced by Greg Pateryn, who played on the third pair with Nathan Beaulieu.

Honouring the fallen: The game was preceded by a moment of silence for Dollard St. Laurent and Hall of Famer Elmer Lach, both of whom died during the past week. St. Laurent, who was 85, won four Stanley Cups with the Canadiens and one with the Chicago Blackhawks. Lach, who was the oldest living Canadien, was 97 when he died. He was a part of three Stanley Cup wins and was the centre on the Punch Line with Toe Blake and Maurice Richard.

What’s next: The Canadiens wrap up the regular season Saturday when they travel to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs in a game which used to mean something for both teams (7 p.m., CBC, TVA Sports, TSN-690 Radio).

phickey@montrealgazette.com

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