MONTREAL -- In a fight to make the playoffs, the Detroit Red Wings missed an opportunity to get back inside the top eight in the Eastern Conference against the Montreal Canadiens.

Leading 3-2 heading into the final frame, the Red Wings had a chance to pass the Boston Bruins, who lost to New Jersey. But Montreal played the spoiler role to perfection, scoring twice in the third to post a 4-3 win on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.

"We weren't tight enough," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said of his team's third-period letdown. "We've got to be tighter defensively. I thought we had some opportunities to make it a two-goal lead. We didn't. But we've got to be tighter defensively.

"I thought our penalty kill was great until the goal, and even then it was a little bit harmless -- their guy made a nice tip on it. But we need to be tighter in those situations."

Max Pacioretty scored the game-winner midway through the third -- his second of the night, less than five minutes after Sven Andrighetto had tied the game.

Detroit erased a 2-0 deficit in the second period, scoring three times on the power play.

"Obviously allowing some goals on the power play we knew we had to keep our composure better there," Pacioretty said. "We knew that if we stayed out of the box in the third we'd have a chance because we felt we outplayed them 5-on-5 throughout the game, and we got rewarded."

Paul Byron and Sven Andrighetto also scored for Montreal, which snapped a two-game losing streak.

Gustav Nyquist, Anthony Mantha and Mike Green replied for the Red Wings (38-28-11), who lost for just the second time in regulation this season when leading after two periods.

Mike Condon made 39 saves for the Canadiens (35-36-6). Petr Mrazek allowed two goals on five shots before he was replaced by Jimmy Howard, who stopped 18 shots in relief for the Red Wings.

After a quiet start to the first period in which the two teams combined for two shots on goal -- one apiece -- in the first six minutes, Montreal picked up the pace to get the scoring started.

While his linemates went off on a change and the top line jumped on, Andrighetto carried the puck into the Red Wings' zone and pulled up along the left wall before dishing off to Joel Hanley at the blue line. Hanley wasted little time in getting his shot off and Pacioretty, in the outer slot, got his stick in place for a perfect redirect at 8:23.

Byron doubled Montreal's lead two minutes later. Mrazek stopped Alexei Emelin's shot from the high slot but Byron was in front to backhand the rebound past the netminder for his 11th of the season.

That was enough for Blashill, who pulled Mrazek.

"I wanted to make the change for momentum," Blashill said. "I thought at that point we needed some momentum difference. I thought (Mrazek) had made two big saves but I wanted to change momentum."

The Canadiens got off to a good start in the second, holding an 8-1 shot advantage through the first seven minutes of the frame. But that got washed away when Montreal found itself in penalty trouble.

Emelin was whistled for a five-minute major for interference after a shoulder-on-shoulder hit that led the Red Wings rookie to fall awkwardly into the boards, and the visitors capitalized.

First, Nyquist took a feed from Niklas Kronwall before wristing one through traffic into the back of the net at 12:33. Mantha, who scored his first NHL goal against Montreal last week in Detroit, tied it up 44 seconds later when he jammed home a rebound during a scramble in the Canadiens' crease.

"It's a great feeling but if you lose the game, it doesn't mean much," Mantha said. "It was just banging rebounds. I think we took six or seven rebounds on that shift. It was a good feeling."

Green gave the Red Wings their first lead of the night at 16:20. With Mike Brown off for four minutes on a pair of undisciplined penalties, Green fired a shot from the top of the right circle.

"Obviously allowing some goals on the power play we knew we had to keep our composure better there," Pacioretty said. "We knew that if we stayed out of the box in the third we'd have a chance because we felt we outplayed them 5-on-5 throughout the game, and we got rewarded."

The Canadiens thought they tied the game early in the third when Emelin's quick shot beat Howard, but Detroit challenged goaltender interference and won when video review deemed Brown had impeded Howard.

Montreal's beleaguered power play snapped an 0-for-16 drought to tie it at 6:34. Tomas Plekanec tossed a shot from the far side of the left circle and Andrighetto deflected it to record his seventh of the season.

"I feel the trust," said Andrighetto. "I'm getting thrown out there a lot more than at the beginning and I got the chance to show what I can do in bigger minutes. It's definitely exciting for me."

Pacioretty's second of the night put the Canadiens back ahead at 11:18 when, uncovered to Howard's left, he put the puck into an open net.

NOTES: After sitting the past two games as a healthy scratch, LW Jacob De La Rose returned to the lineup in place of LW Stefan Matteau, who was scratched. ... Detroit scratched D Brendan Smith for the second straight game and RW Tomas Jurco and LW Teemu Pulkkinen both sat for an eighth consecutive game. ... G Mike Condon became the fourth goaltender in as many meetings to start a game for the Canadiens against the Red Wings this season. ... A native of Longueil, on Montreal's south shore, Red Wings RW Anthony Mantha played his first game in Montreal after scoring his first NHL point against the Canadiens last Thursday in Detroit.