Golden Knights defeat Canadiens in OT, end three-game skid

LAS VEGAS -- Shea Theodore scored 1:50 into overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 4-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.

Theodore started the play by forcing a turnover by Ben Chiarot behind the Canadiens net. He then collected a loose puck near the high slot, deked Christian Dvorak, and shot blocker side on Sam Montembeault.

"I think just at the end of the day, it's a goal," said Theodore, who also had two assists. "The puck was kind of bouncing and I was just trying to get a shot off."

Video: MTL@VGK: Theodore wrists home overtime winner

William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault each had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights (24-15-2), who went 3-3-2 on an eight-game homestand. Robin Lehner made 24 saves.

"I think we played well," Theodore said. "We had a lot of chances, but we had to tighten up defensively. It was definitely a big goal to finish off the homestand on a note like that and hit the road with some positivity."

Montembeault made an NHL career-high 49 saves for the Canadiens (8-25-6), who have lost seven of eight (1-4-3).

"I'm really happy with the situation right now," Montembault said. "Such a nice thing to me, I'm so happy to be here. I'm really happy to see some action."

Montembeault set a career high in saves for the second consecutive game; he made 48 in a 5-3 win at the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

"He's young, trying to prove himself in the League, and he's had some incredible performances for us," Chiarot said. "He looks like a seasoned vet in the net."

Video: MTL@VGK: Montembeault denies Kolesar on 1-on-2 rush

Chandler Stephenson gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 3:40 of the first period, scoring from the low slot after Evgenii Dadonov shot the puck toward the net from below the goal line.

Michael Pezzetta tied it 1-1 at 15:28 when he got the rebound of Artturi Lehkonen's initial shot.

Karlsson scored on the power play at 11:46 of the second to give the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead.

Tyler Toffoli scored his own power-play goal to tie it 2-2 at 14:20, shooting from near the left post after receiving a pass from behind the net by Nick Suzuki.

Mike Hoffman gave Montreal a 3-2 lead at 6:15 of the third period with a one-timer short side from the left face-off dot.

"If you look at the last two games, we had the lead in the third period ... and tonight with the goal in the third with 13, 14 minutes (left), obviously on the other side you feel the urgency. They came back pushing again," Montreal coach Dominique Ducharme said. "It was some times where obviously they were storming us. Other times, we had better control of our game. I think we're trying to keep from the outside as much as possible to give less quality chances."

Marchessault tied it 3-3 at 11:39, scoring from the right circle off a cross-slot pass from Karlsson on the power play.

"I thought we put in the right amount of work to deserve two points tonight," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. "This league shows you don't always get what you deserve, but I thought we worked hard enough to get two points."

Video: MTL@VGK: Marchessault's perfect wrister

NOTES: The Canadiens announced after the game that goalie Jake Allen will be out eight weeks with a lower-body injury. … Toffoli has scored three points (two goals, one assist) in two games since returning from hand surgery. … Stephenson played in his 300th NHL game. … Theodore has scored four overtime goals with the Golden Knights. Only Marchessault and Max Pacioretty have more (six). … Vegas defenseman Zach Whitecloud was a late scratch due to back tightness. He was replaced by Dylan Coghlan, who had five shots, two hits and three blocks in an NHL career-high 25:08 of ice time.