Blues 3, Canadiens 2 (SO)
MONTREAL -- Right wing T.J. Oshie scored in the shootout, and goalie Jaroslav Halak didn't allow a goal in the tiebreaker to give the St. Louis Blues a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.
Oshie shot into the top right corner on St. Louis' first attempt against Montreal goalie Carey Price, who stopped 29 shots in regulation and overtime.
Halak turned aside center Alex Galchenyuk and right winger Brendan Gallagher, and Montreal left wing Max Pacioretty missed wide as the Blues (9-2-2) won for the fourth time in five games.
Right winger Chris Stewart drew St. Louis even at 2 at 10:31 of the third when a shot from Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk struck his leg on its way past Price.
Halak stopped Canadiens center Tomas Plekanec on a penalty shot with 48.9 seconds left in regulation after center David Backes, the Blues' captain, was called for knocking his own goal off its moorings.
St. Louis left winger Alex Steen scored his league-leading 13th goal in the first period.
Left wings Rene Bourque and Michael Bournival scored second-period goals for Montreal (8-7-1). The Canadiens lost their third in a row (0-2-1).
Halak, who stopped 25 shots, won his third straight encounter against Price and the Canadiens, including a 3-0 victory at Bell Centre on Jan. 10, 2012, in the last meeting between the teams.
Montreal traded Halak to the Blues in the summer of 2010 after the Slovakian goalie helped lead the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference final.
Steen gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead at 2:38 of the first with a shot from the slot on a setup by Backes, who knocked Montreal defenseman Douglas Murray off the puck behind the Canadiens' goal.
Bourque's goal 5:38 into the second period tied it at 1 and ended Halak's shutout streak against Montreal at 133 minutes, eight seconds.
Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov drove the net and ran into Halak's head when he was pushed into the St. Louis goalie by Blues center Vladimir Sobotka. Bourque put the rebound into the right side for his fifth goal.
Price stuck out his right pad to deny Stewart's scoring chance in the third shortly before he drew the Blues even.
NOTES: Blues LW Brenden Morrow missed his third straight game because of an upper-body injury. Morrow, who was placed on injury reserve Monday, has two goals and one assist in nine games in his first season in St. Louis. ... LW Magnus Paajarvi was also out of the Blues' lineup with an upper-body injury. He was placed on IR Thursday and has missed four games. Paajarvi has no points in four games. ... D Ian Cole and LW Chris Porter did not dress for St. Louis. ... C David Desharnais was left out of the Canadiens lineup. He has one assist in 15 games in the first season of a four-year, $14-million contract extension he signed in March. ... D Greg Pateryn was also a healthy scratch for Montreal. ... Canadiens coach Michel Therrien used his timeout at 6:26 of the second, not long after the Canadiens tied the score at 1.
