VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- It was a painful surprise, but one Paul Byron could grin about later.

Alex Galchenyuk's shot deflected off Bryon and past Vancouver goaltender Ryan Miller 1:13 into overtime as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Canucks 2-1 Tuesday to extend their winning streak to six games.

"It hit me on the inside of the pants, kind of right off the cup there, so it caught me by surprise," said Bryon, who collected his 16th goal of the season.

Miller, who kept the Canucks in the game by making 36 saves, was left shaking his head over the winning goal.

Bryon was tied up with Vancouver defenseman Ben Hutton in front of the net. The puck changed directions after hitting Byron and dribbled past Miller's glove as the goalie sprawled to make the save.

"It's almost kind of comical," said Miller, who saw the Canadiens outshoot the Canucks 16-4 in the second period. "It was really a tough bounce.

"Through the traffic, I thought (Galchenyuk) was going to shoot maybe around them a little bit more. I tried to get to the other side for a look. It hit (Byron) on the inside leg. It's just one of those, it's at your fingertips. It feels like you can do nothing about it. It's right there, but you can't get it. It's a tough feeling."

Torrey Mitchell broke a 39-game scoring drought by scoring Montreal's other goal early in the first period.

Michael Chaput tied the game for the Canucks with 7:11 left in the third period.

The Canadiens (38-21-8) won for the seventh time in eight games. First-place Montreal holds a six-point lead over Ottawa in the Atlantic Division, though the Senators have three games in hand.

The Canucks are battling for their playoff lives, so Bryon wasn't surprised Vancouver didn't go down without a fight.

"It's playoff hockey right now, every team you play is trying to get in," he said. "Even if they are out, the young guys are trying to push for spots next year.

"Every player brings their best, and games are tight out there. Sometimes you just got to go to the blue paint, get hit in the leg and get a goal."

The play of goaltender Carey Price has contributed to Montreal's success. Price made 27 saves for the win Tuesday. He has five consecutive victories while allowing just five goals and posting a .964 save percentage in that span.

"It's just not me, it's our defensive play in general," said Price, who grew up in the northern British Columbia community of Anahim Lake. "Ever since the bye, we have been playing very well."

Price's mother and father attended the game.

Mitchell, who is battling the flu, played just two shifts and 47 seconds during the first period. He finished the night with just over 10 minutes of ice time.

Montreal coach Claude Julien praised Mitchell for continuing to play despite being ill.

"He started getting sick and spent most of the first period in the bathroom," Julien said. "He came back and didn't have a ton of energy, but we used him on faceoffs. We trusted him on short shifts and stuff like that.

"He deserves a lot of credit for coming back. The way he felt, I was proud of his attitude."

Vancouver (28-30-8) saw a two-game win streak snapped. The Canucks are 3-5-2 in their past 10 games, and they trail the St. Louis Blues by seven points in the race for the final Western Conference wild-card playoff spot.

The Canucks were angry they came away with just one point.

"It's disappointing and frustrating," said Chaput, who scored his fourth goal of the season and first in eight games. "(A win) would have been huge for us in the standings."

Chaput said the game wouldn't have been close without Miller.

"He kept us in it all the way through, so that was huge for us," he said. "It was a 1-1 game in the third. Anything can happen. Unfortunately, we lost."

NOTES: Canadiens C Brian Flynn left the game after two shifts in the first period because of an upper-body injury. ... RW Nikolay Goldobin, obtained by Vancouver in a trade with San Jose, started on the second line with C Bo Horvat and LW Sven Baertschi in his second game as a Canuck. ... Canucks LW Loui Eriksson will miss up to two weeks with a knee injury. ... Canucks D Nikita Tryamkin is back skating but missed his sixth game due to the mumps. D Philip Larsen was a healthy scratch. ... Montreal C Tomas Plekanec, out with an upper-body injury, had his streak of 236 consecutive games end. ... Montreal LW Alexander Radulov missed his second game with a lower-body injury. ... D Brandon Davidson made his Canadiens debut after being acquired in a trade with Edmonton. ... D Nikita Nesterov, RW Michael McCarron and D Alexei Emelin were healthy scratches for the Habs.