DETROIT -- The Montreal Canadiens were outplayed for more than 40 minutes after the first period but won anyway.

Alex Galchenyuk's goal 3:37 into overtime gave the Canadiens a 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.

"We got a really good start, but (Detroit goalie Petr) Mrazek was outstanding. Both goalies were outstanding, really," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. "That's why it was 0-0 into the third period. I thought we gave them too much momentum in the second period, and we never really got it back."

The Canadiens were outshot 28-14 after the first period.

Galchenyuk finished a two-on-one by one-timing a pass from Alexander Radulov past Mrazek from the bottom of the left circle for the winner. It was Galchenyuk's ninth goal of the season.

"Pricey (Montreal goalie Carey Price) makes the great save, and I just took off, because I knew Rads would get me the puck," Galchenyuk said. "He made a great pass, and I was just trying to keep the shot down. I didn't want to shoot over the bar."

Brendan Gallagher also scored for Montreal (16-4-2), which has the best record in the NHL. Price stopped 32 shots.

Justin Abdelkader, who played his 500th game, scored for Detroit (10-10-2) and Mrazek made 22 saves.

The Red Wings beat the New Jersey Devils 5-4 in overtime on Friday night in New Jersey.

"It's always tough, but, hey, listen, we've caught a lot of teams on back-to-backs in here. There's no excuse. You got to try to find your legs and keep it simple for the first 5-10 minutes," Abdelkader said. "I think we were terrible first period, but it's always tough when you get in late and turn around and play the next night when the other team's sitting here waiting for you."

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill likes the way his team is playing

"It's encouraging for sure. When you're starting to play good hockey, you can see it and I think we're starting to play good hockey," he said. "I really like our line combinations. I think they mesh well together. It's probably the most I've liked our lines since I've been here, including last year (he is in his second season as coach)."

Gallagher tied the score 1-1 with 8:05 left in the third period when he tipped in a shot by Tomas Plekanec. It was Gallagher's fifth goal of the season and his first in 16 games.

Price made a pad save on Henrik Zetterberg's one-timer from the bottom of the right circle 7:47 into the third period.

Abdelkader got the game's first goal 3:20 into the third period. He beat Price high on the glove side with a wrist shot from the high slot that deflected off the stick of Canadiens defenseman Greg Pateryn on the rush. It was Abdelkader's fourth goal of the season.

Two Red Wings players were helped to the dressing room in the second period and neither returned.

Defenseman Brendan Smith got his legs tangled up with the Canadiens' Phillip Danault along the boards in the Detroit zone and limped off with 8:01 left in the second period.

Forward Tyler Bertuzzi made it off the ice by himself but on one leg with 3:13 remaining in the second period after a low hit in the corner along the boards from Montreal defenseman Alexei Emelin.

Blashill said he would have updates on Smith and Bertuzzi on Monday.

Emelin also made a low hit on Dylan Larkin in the third period, which sent Larkin to the dressing room for a time (he returned), and punched Frans Nielsen in the mouth late in third period.

"I have to take a look back on the replays, but for sure, a couple questionable ones," Abdelkader said. "That's obviously a league matter and something the league will look into. I haven't really seen the full replay, so I'm not going to really comment on that."

Therrien said, "He's (Emelin) a solid man. He kills penalties, he sacrifices himself to block shots, and he's very physical. There's a price to be paid when you play against him and (Shea) Weber."

NOTES: Detroit recalled G Jared Corveau from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League because G Jimmy Howard suffered a groin injury in Friday night's 5-4 overtime win in New Jersey. Howard is expected to be out a week or so. Petr Mrazek started for the Red Wings. ... Montreal F Charles Hudon sustained an upper-body injury during practice Friday morning and did not make the trip as a precaution. ... D Xavier Oullet and F Drew Miller replaced D Niklas Kronwall and F Steve Ott in the lineup for Detroit. ... Canadiens RW Alexander Radulov returned after missing two games because of illness.