There was one big question after Monday's Atlantic Division contest between the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre in Montreal: Which team actually won?

The scoreboard after the game said it was Montreal, which earned a 4-2 win in a battle of two teams mired in the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

In terms of odds for a better draft position, though, it was the Red Wings that emerged victorious.

Both the Red Wings and the Canadiens are bound for the draft lottery, and the Red Wings might have gained some more ping pong balls with the loss since Montreal is now three points ahead of Detroit in the standings.

Detroit opened the scoring 4:41 into the first period on a goal by Gustav Nyquist, who took a pass all alone in front of the Montreal net from Henrik Zetterberg and beat Canadiens goalie Carey Price.

Montreal tied the game on a power play with 1:49 left in the first when Paul Byron got off a backhand shot in between defenders that beat Red Wings goalie Jared Coreau.

Montreal's Brendan Gallagher then netted a pair of goals 5:05 apart in the second period, one with 15:33 left and the other with 11:28 left, to give Montreal a 3-1 lead.

Gallagher's first goal came when he turned around from a sharp angle to the side of the net and fired a shot that banked off the skate of Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser and into the net.

Gallagher's second goal, his 30th of the season, came on a point shot that ultimately trickled past Coreau and into the goal.

Detroit closed to within 3-2 with 6:19 remaining in the second on a goal by Tyler Bertuzzi, who backhanded home a rebound.

Montreal added an insurance goal with 4:26 left on a power-play goal by Alex Galchenyuk.

Price made 26 saves to earn the win in net for Montreal, while Coreau made 27 saves in defeat for Detroit.

--Field Level Media