MONTREAL - Tomas Plekanec scored the game-winner in the third and Jaroslav Halak made 45 saves as the Montreal Canadiens ended the Vancouver Canucks' seven-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night.

Sergei Kostitsyn and Maxim Lapierre scored in the first period for Montreal (26-25-6), which ended a three-game winless run.

Mikael Samuelsson and Ryan Kesler each scored a power-play goal for the Canucks (34-19-2). Vancouver had scored only once on its previous 18 chances.

Halak stopped NHL scoring leader Henrik Sedin on two close-in chances in the opening minute, and then did it again early in the second period as he was held off the scoresheet for the second time in his last three games.

Porous Canucks defence

Roberto Luongo, playing his first game since he was yanked after the first period of a 5-3 comeback win in Toronto on Saturday, could not be blamed for the two goals he surrendered on nine shots in the opening period.

A turnover by the Canucks defence gave Kostitsyn room to slip around Kesler, move into the slot and score only his second goal of the season at 5:56. It was Montreal's first even-strength goal in four games, ending a drought of 223 minutes 12 seconds.

Samuelsson's point shot on a power play handcuffed Halak and dropped into the net to tie it at 8:24, but Lapierre was in front to bang in a pass across the crease at 18:04 for a rare goal from Montreal's fourth line.

Rockin' crowd

The Canadiens had the sellout crowd of 21,273 rocking with some long stretches of pressure in the Vancouver zone in the second frame, but couldn't add to their lead, although Kostitsyn went around Brad Lukowich and had Luongo down in the final minute only to shoot high over the net.

The teams were each short a man when Plekanec had two whacks at a puck in the crease before he flipped it over Luongo 9:14 into the third.

The gritty Kesler was in his usual spot in front of the crease to bat a puck out of the air that went off defenceman Roman Hamrlik's body to close the gap to one goal with 5:50 left to play.

The Canucks beat Montreal 7-1 on Oct. 7 in Vancouver.