Paul Byron scored in a shootout as the Montreal Canadiens ended a five-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the first-place Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.
Byron was the only player to score in the shootout.
Max Pacioretty scored in regulation time for Montreal (17-20-4), which posted its first win since Dec. 22.
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Nikita Kucherov scored for Tampa Bay (29-8-3), which beat Montreal at home Dec. 28.
The Lightning outshot the Canadiens 40-36 in regulation time and 45-38 overall in a wild game marked by brilliant goaltending at both ends of the ice.
Glittering chances were missed through an entertaining but scoreless opening period, but then the teams traded goals 44 seconds apart while each down a man to start the second frame.
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Mikhail Sergachev, traded by Montreal to Tampa Bay for Jonathan Drouin in June, sent a weak pass up the left boards that was picked off by Pacioretty.
The Canadiens captain skated into the slot and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy up high at the 0:20 mark.
Next up, the Habs host the Vancouver Canucks in a rare Sunday night clash at the Bell Centre, puck drop is at 7:08 p.m.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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