MONTREAL -- New Jersey Devils defenseman John Moore made the most of a rare opportunity to contribute offensively Saturday.
Moore scored with 2:29 remaining in overtime and New Jersey overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period for a 3-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre.
Mike Condon made a pad save on Moore's initial shot, but the Devils defenseman flipped the rebound over him to secure a split of the home-and-home series.
It was Moore's 11th goal in 252 NHL games, and his first in overtime.
"It was one of those things when he made the initial stop, with this 3-on-3 overtime, I was thinking, 'Oh man, I better find a way to put this in,' because if you don't, of course it's a 3-on-1, 3-on-0, the other way. So luckily enough, it found its way in," Moore said.
Cory Schneider made 30 saves in his fourth consecutive start for the Devils (12-9-2), who ended Montreal's four-game winning streak.
New Jersey lost 3-2 to the Canadiens in a shootout at Prudential Center on Friday after leading by two in the second period.
"We felt we easily could have had two points (Friday) night; I'm sure they felt they should have had two points (Saturday)," Schneider said. "They're obviously one of the best teams in the League for a reason. They're tough, they play well, they play smart, but we just went toe-to-toe for them back-to-back nights and I think it says a lot about our team and the way we can play."
Kyle Palmieri drew the Devils even at 2-2 with 21.8 seconds remaining in the third period when he beat Condon with a drive from the left faceoff circle after Schneider was pulled for an extra attacker.
"We were pretty happy with the way we were playing throughout, but a great shot there by [Palmieri] to give us a chance, and what more can you say about Cory? He's been coming up huge all year for us giving us a chance to win," Moore said.
Alex Galchenyuk scored twice and Condon made 28 saves for the Canadiens (18-4-3).
"It's a terrible way to lose," Montreal captain Max Pacioretty said. "It's unacceptable. We have to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Galchenyuk, who scored in regulation and in the shootout Friday, extended his point streak to five games (five goals, two assists) when he scored for a fourth consecutive game in the second period for his longest NHL goal streak.
He scored his second goal of the game, his seventh of the season, on a power play at 8:50 of the third to give Montreal a 2-0 lead.
Patrik Elias, who was in the penalty box when Galchenyuk scored his second goal, scored his first goal in three games at 11:01 to pull New Jersey within 2-1.
Henrique, who had scored in three straight games, assisted on each of the Devils' last two goals to extend his point streak to four games (three goals, two assists).
Galchenyuk crossed into the slot and redirected Lars Eller's slap shot from the point past Schneider and into the top right corner for his sixth goal at 9:06 of the second period for a 1-0 lead.
"I think it hit my stick, to be honest," said Galchenyuk, who had two prior three-game goal streaks in the NHL. "It was a pretty high shot; I was just trying to get away from it and it hit me. I was still trying to tip it, but it just went in a completely different direction and I was happy to see that one go in."
The Canadiens extended their lead nine seconds after Elias was penalized for interference at 8:41 of the third when Galchenyuk put a rebound of Pacioretty's backhand past Schneider.
Elias, who missed the first 20 games of the season because of a knee injury, got the Devils within one 2:20 later when he deflected defenseman Adam Larsson's shot past Condon for his 407th NHL goal.
"I took a bad penalty on their second goal," said Elias, who had a few cuts around his left eye, including one that necessitated several stitches, as a result of a first-period hit by Montreal defenseman Greg Pateryn. "It cost us the two-goal deficit and we battled back. We stayed strong and it was a good characteristic that we showed there, that we didn't give up at that point and kept pushing."
Pacioretty, who extended his point streak to four games, has 13 points in his past 11 games, including five goals and eight assists.
"They play the right way and it's tough to get scoring opportunities and shots against a team like that," Pacioretty said. "They defend really well, you've got to give them a lot of credit, but we had a chance to close up that game and there's no excuse for that."
Canadiens right wing Christian Thomas made his season debut on a line with center Brian Flynn and left wing Paul Byron.
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