In the Habs' room: Eller rounds into playoff form

Lars Eller had one thing in mind as he skated down the left wing in the overtime of Thursday night’s game between the Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings.

“I wanted to get the shot on net so that even if it doesn’t go in, there’s a rebound,” said Eller.

The shot did find its way past Jimmy Howard, giving the Canadiens a 4-3 victory and leaving their destiny in their hands as the battle for first place in the Atlantic Division goes down to the wire. Montreal goes into its final game Saturday in Toronto with a two-point lead over Tampa Bay and the Canadiens can clinch the division title with a single point against the Leafs.

Eller would be the first to admit that it wasn’t his best shot, but he said it made up for an embarrassing moment earlier. He had a chance for a breakaway, but ran out of gas and fell on the play.

“I wanted to push the puck forward and then try to get up,” said Eller who has 15 goals this season, including four in the last six games. He said he’s happy with the way his line — he’s playing with Brandon Prust and Dale Weise — has been playing of late.

And head coach Michel Therrien likes what he’s seeing from Eller, who was the Canadiens’ leading scorer in the playoffs last season.

“He competes a lot more the last few games,” said Therrien.

“He’s getting chances and playing well on both sides of the ice. It was a bad break for Detroit, but (Eller) was skating hard on the wing. We all know what he did in the playoffs last year and I like that he’s competing.”

Therrien also liked the fact that his team scored four goals for the second consecutive game even though leading scorer Max Pacioretty is on the sidelines.

Eller’s soft goal wasn’t the only bad break for the Red Wings, who took a 3-2 lead on a short-handed goal by Darren Helm early in the third period. The Canadiens were on a power play later in the period when they received a gift from Brendan Smith. As P.K. Subban battled for the puck along the boards near the Detroit bench, the puck bounced into the air. Smith, who was sitting on the bench, swatted the puck back on the ice.

“I had a pretty good idea that the puck was still in play,” said Subban, who argued his point to the on-ice officials. “After I made my point the fifth time, they told me to shut up but to their credit, they looked at the replays.”

The result was an interference penalty to Smith to give the Canadiens a 5-on-3 advantage. Tomas Plekanec scored his 25th goal of the season 32 seconds later to tie the game.

The win forces Therrien to make a decision for the game in Toronto. Does he go with Carey Price or does he give his No. 1 a rest and go with Dustin Tokarski?

“I’ll tell you tomorrow,” said Therrien.

A first-place finish would give the Canadiens home ice advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs and Therrien said it would give the Canadiens a boost because they have 26 wins at home this season. But he noted that the Canadiens haven’t been slouches on the road, where they have 23 wins.

This wasn’t Price’s best game, but he stopped 24 of 27 shots to register his 43rd win of the season. That’s a team record, breaking the previous mark of 42 shared by Jacques Plante and Ken Dryden.

“I’m very proud of Carey and I’m privileged to be part of the history of the Canadiens,” said Therrien.