MONTREAL, April 4 (UPI) -- Michael Ryder brought Montreal back from an early deficit by scoring the tying and go-ahead goals Thursday, boosting the Canadiens past Winnipeg 4-1.
Montreal managed to stay one point in front of Boston for the lead in the Northeast Division. Winnipeg, however, suffered its fifth straight loss and fell back into a tie with Washington for the top spot in the Southeast Division.
Ryder forged a 1-1 tie on the power play with 9:13 to go in the opening period and then gave the Canadiens the lead 2:03 into the second. Brian Gionta and Alex Galchenyuk also scored for Montreal, which won for the fourth time in five games and improved its home record to 12-4-3.
The win went to Peter Budaj, who made 33 saves. Ondrej Pavelec allowed all four Montreal goals on 24 shots.
