Darren Helm’s second goal with 6:01 left in the third period broke a tie and lifted Detroit to a 3-2 comeback win over Montreal on Thursday night, extending its point streak to 12 games.
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The Red Wings had lost seven in a row to the Canadiens.
The Detroit Red Wings extended their best stretch of success in five years, and kept the Montreal Canadiens stuck in their worst slump of the season. Helm, who came close on a couple of scoring chances in the first period, took advantage of a fortunate bounce to go in alone and beat Tokarski with a shot to the blocker side.
“Hopefully this will give me a little bit more confidence and keep things rolling personally and help the team win”.
Tokarski, who was 6-6 last season for Montreal, shrugged off his relatively solid showing. Mrazek was forced to make a big save on Tomas Plekanec shorthanded.
Ottawa has also scored the second-most goals in the East (91 to Montreal’s 97).
A fourth power play came Detroit’s way midway through the period, but the first minute was spent simply trying to get possession and the second minute didn’t see Pavel Datsyuk’s unit fare much better. Henrik Zetterberg fired a shot from the left circle that went in off Abdelkader’s right skate, with a quick review ruling there was no kicking motion. The Habs were without top goaltender Carey Price and forward Brendan Gallagher, leaving the Wings to face recent call-up Dustin Tokarski in net.
The Canadiens hurt their chances to extending the game beyond regulation because P.K. Subban was called for delay of game, putting him to the penalty box with 1:44 left.
“We put ourselves in a tough position to have to kill off three penalties in the third period”, Montreal center Lars Eller said.
A pair of grizzled veterans who combined to break the backs and the hearts of the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday at Joe Louis Arena. D Jakub Kindl was Detroit’s healthy scratch.
Despite late pressure, the Canadiens would be unable to force overtime. A former 40-goal scorer who eclipsed the 20-tally mark seven times in 11 NHL seasons, declined an assignment to the American Hockey League earlier this week and may seek employment in his homeland.
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Cammalleri, the team leader with 30 points, was pointless against the Maple Leafs after scoring four goals and assisting on three others over the three previous games.
