WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The Montreal Canadiens appeared destined for yet another hard-luck loss in a young season already filled with them. A late-game rally culminated in a controversial game-winning goal Saturday night at Bell MTS Place.

Montreal erased a two-goal deficit in the third period, then completed the comeback when Max Pacioretty fired home the deciding goal while on the power play in overtime for a 5-4 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.

Jets defenseman Tyler Myers had been sent to the box for cross-checking Alex Galchenyuk into the boards during the 3-on-3. Pacioretty then ended it by taking a pass from Galchenyuk -- after knocking Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien down -- and one-timed the puck from the low slot past Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.

Pacioretty ran into Byfuglien just seconds earlier, knocking the big man to the ice in what the crowd and several members of the Jets thought should be a penalty. He then set up all alone in the slot and beat Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck to give his team a much-needed two points.

"From past experience just this year, too many times we maybe felt sorry for ourselves, felt like there was nothing we could do," Pacioretty said.

He said there was no intent on his part during the accidental collision.

"I heard the fans roar," Pacioretty said. "He's a lot bigger than I am. We had some good battles tonight. Nine times out of 10 I would be the one on the ice."

Byfuglien was furious, smashing his stick over the net and screaming at the officials.

"It was definitely a penalty," Byfuglien said. "I think everyone was waiting for the call. Pretty sure the guy came and swept under his feet as he was getting ready to ice the puck. That's kind of right in front of the ref, too.

"That's for another day," said Hellebuyck, who stopped 45 shots. "They got so many lucky bounces and I thought we deserved the win. We scored four goals and I felt we were playing good as a team. They were getting a lot of shots but that's just their style."

Montreal improved to 5-8-1. Winnipeg fell to 7-3-3, including 4-0-3 in their past seven and 7-1-3 in their past 11.

The Jets opened the scoring on their first man-advantage at 10:44 of the first period. Captain Blake Wheeler tried a toe drag in the slot and lost the puck -- right on to the stick of teammate Patrik Laine, who ripped it through Al Montoya's legs for a 1-0 lead.

Dmitry Kulikov took a roughing penalty with 51 seconds left in the first period on a play that could have been blown dead seconds earlier on a clear offside missed by the linesman. Montreal took advantage of the break just nine seconds into the man advantage, as Jonathan Drouin's shot was tipped in front by Andrew Shaw for his second goal of the season.

Laine went to the box just over two minutes into the second period after tripping Montreal's Jordie Benn. Shaw quickly struck again, knocking a loose puck out of Hellebuyck's glove and into the net at 2:55 to put Montreal up 2-1.

"Just working hard, competing, trying to create space," Shaw said.

The Jets tied it with 2:44 left in the second period as Brandon Tanev retrieved the puck behind Montreal's net and fed a wide-open Andrew Copp, who scored his second goal of the year.

Winnipeg got another power play chance early in the third period as Montreal's Jeff Petry closed his hand on the puck. Nikolaj Ehlers cashed in, wiring a wrist shot over Montoya's shoulder at 4:25 for his team-leading eighth goal of the season.

Wheeler capped off a perfect night on the power play, blowing past two Montreal defensemen and beating Montoya on the deke at?6:39?for his fifth goal of the year.

"Power play is going to have its ebbs and flows and its ups and downs," Wheeler said. "We struggled a little bit there, made some adjustments and it's clicking again. That's a good sign. We had our guys going on the power play. If you score three (on the power play), it should be enough."

It wasn't enough as the Canadiens stormed back.

Tomas Plekanec scored his third of the year at 8:17, and then Petry got some redemption when he beat Hellebuyck from the slot nearly seven minutes later.

"We had the momentum going our way," Shaw said. "Being down 4-2 in the third and capitalizing and coming back just shows the character of this team."

NOTES: Montreal G Carey Price remains day to day with what the team is describing as a "minor" lower-body injury. The Canadiens called up Charlie Lindgren from the Laval Rocket to serve as backup. ... Winnipeg C Adam Lowry was expected to return to the lineup but was held out for a ninth straight game with an upper-body injury. ... Canadiens coach Claude Julien moved RW Alex Galchenyuk from the fourth line to the top line with C Jonathan Drouin and LW Artturi Lehkonen. ... Winnipeg LW Brendan Lemieux played for the first time against the team his father, Claude, began his NHL career with back in 1983 and spent seven seasons with. ... Montreal LW Jacob De La Rose and D Joe Morrow were scratched. Winnipeg C Marko Dano and D Ben Chiarot were scratched.