Mike Cammalleri got his team-leading 16th goal after Andrei Kostitsyn scored on Montreal's third shot of the game in the second period and the Canadiens went on to a 3-1 win over the slumping Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.
Carey Price made 14 saves and Marc-Andre Bergeron also scored for Montreal, which won its second in a row following an 0-3-1 skid despite managing just 13 shots, including one in the opening period.
Cammalleri, who signed a five-year contract as a free agent on July 1, scored for the fourth time in two games in the second. He got his second hat trick of the season Friday as the Canadiens celebrated their 100th anniversary with a 5-1 win over Boston.
Daniel Briere scored an unassisted goal in the first for Philadelphia, which lost its fifth in a row, including an 8-2 loss to Washington on Saturday in Peter Laviolette's debut behind the Flyers' bench.
Philadelphia has lost each of its first two games since Laviolette took over from former head coach John Stevens, fired Friday in the wake of the Flyers' second shutout loss in a row.
Brian Boucher stopped 10 shots in his sixth appearance _ including four starts _ in seven games.
The teams combined for 28 shots, with Philadelphia holding a 15-13 edge overall.
Max Pacioretty got credit for Montreal's only shot of the first at 6:18.
Philadelphia didn't generate much more offense in the opening period, but Briere managed to convert one of the Flyers' four shots.
The slick center flicked the puck past Price 7:28 in despite being hauled down on a breakaway by Montreal defenseman Ryan O'Byrne, who was called for a delayed penalty that ultimately went unrecorded on the scoresheet.
Tomas Plekanec finally delivered the Canadiens' second shot of the game 5:51 into the second.
The Czech center went one better moments later when he set up shop behind the Flyers' net before threading a pass to Kostitsyn, who was left unmarked in the slot to swat the puck past Boucher for his third goal.
Cammalleri put Montreal ahead at 14:04 when he finished off a 2-on-1 with Maxim Lapierre.
Georges Laraque got his 100th career assist on Cammalleri's goal. Laraque, who fought Riley Cote 2:45 in, appeared in his second game since serving a five-game suspension for his knee-on-knee hit on Detroit's Niklas Kronwall.
Canadiens defenseman Paul Mara left the game with an upper body injury in the second. He did not return.
Bergeron, who started the game as a forward on the fourth line, moved to defense after Mara's injury and scored his sixth of the season on a power play
NOTES: Boucher allowed three goals on 13 shots after relieving Ray Emery midway through Saturday's loss. ... Cammalleri led Calgary with a career-high 39 goals last season. ... Laraque has 152 points and 1,119 penalty minutes in 679 regular-season games with Edmonton, Phoenix and Montreal.
