Tomas Tatar's third-period goal put the Montreal Canadiens ahead for good in a back-and-forth game that ended in a 5-4 win over the visiting Vegas Golden Knights.

At the 12:17 mark of the third period, Tatar made a strong rush towards the Vegas net and took a shot, with replays showing that defenseman Shea Theodore accidentally tipped it into his own team's goal.

Tatar now has seven goals in 17 games for Montreal since joining the team in the offseason trade that sent longtime Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty to the Golden Knights. Pacioretty was making his first appearance in Montreal as a visiting player, and while he didn't figure into the scoring, he did lead all Vegas players with nine shots.

Andrew Shaw scored twice for the Canadiens, with Jesperi Kotkaniemi also collecting two points via a goal and an assist. Max Domi picked up two assists on the night, giving the red-hot center 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) over his last 13 games.

Vegas dominated the first period, outshooting Montreal by a 15-4 margin and opening up a 2-0 lead on goals from Brad Hunt and Jonathan Marchessault. The Canadiens, however, responded with a much stronger effort in the second period, with Charles Hudon, Shaw, and Kotkaniemi all scoring during a four-minute span.

After Alex Tuch equalized for the Golden Knights at the 14:34 mark of the second period, William Karlsson put Vegas ahead again on a power play goal 3:27 into the third period. Karlsson's shot was blocked by goalie Antti Niemi, though Canadiens center Matthew Peca mistakenly knocked the rebound into his own net while trying to clear the puck.

Karlsson had a three-point night in the defeat, finishing with the goal and two assists. The Golden Knights now have four power play goals in their last two games, after scoring just six times with the extra attacker over their first 15 games.

Shaw's second goal of the game evened the score once more 9:20 into the third. Shaw was in front of the net to bury the rebound after Domi tried a long shot from the point.

--Field Level Media