Ryan O'Reilly scored the go-ahead power-play goal late in the third period as the Nashville Predators erased a two-goal deficit to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 at Centre Bell on Thursday.
After a scoreless opening period, Montreal struck twice in the second period. Nick Suzuki scored unassisted on a backhand shot at 3:12 to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead. Alex Newhook extended the advantage to 2-0 at 8:50 with a snap shot off a pass from Josh Anderson for his first goal of the season. Nashville responded at 15:06 when Alexander Kerfoot redirected a shot past goaltender Jacob Fowler for his first goal of the season, assisted by Adam Wilsby and Ross Colton. Matthew Wood tied the game 2-2 on the power play at 19:28, scoring his first goal of the season with assists from Steven Stamkos and Filip Forsberg.
O'Reilly put Nashville ahead 3-2 at 16:44 of the third period, tipping in a pass on the power play from Roman Josi and Stamkos for his first goal of the season. Adam Edstrom then scored two empty-net snap shots within 1:11, finding the net at 17:23 with assists from Brady Skjei and Kerfoot, followed by another at 18:34 assisted by Josi and Jack Drury to finish the scoring.
Nashville capitalized on the man advantage, converting two of five power-play opportunities while holding Montreal scoreless on three attempts. Juuse Saros earned the win for the Predators by stopping 31 of 33 shots. Fowler took the loss in net for the Canadiens, making 15 saves on 18 shots as Montreal was assessed 20 penalty minutes to Nashville's six.
The victory moved the Predators to a 2-1-1 regular-season record. Montreal dropped to 1-2-1 on the season and extended its winless streak to three games (0-2-1).
Montreal continues play when it hosts the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, October 20. Nashville visits the Boston Bruins on Thursday, October 22.
