NEWARK, N.J. -- The captain came to the rescue Monday night and the Montreal Canadiens rallied for a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center.

Montreal captain Max Pacorietty scored twice in the third period, including the game-tying goal with 53 seconds left in regulation, to force overtime.

Pacorietty was then on the ice when Alex Galchenyuk completed the comeback with a power play goal 2:54 into the extra session for the Canadiens (34-21-8).

"He's leading by example, and we need that from him," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said of Pacorietty, who now has 31 goals on the season, the fifth time he has reached the 30-goal plateau. "He has done a great job."

With the Canadiens trailing 3-1 after a Travis Zajac power-play goal for New Jersey 7:54 into the third period, Pacorietty answered with a right-wing snipe just 43 seconds later at 8:37 to bring Montreal back to within one.

Then, with goaltender Al Montoya on the bench for a sixth attacker, Pacorietty dribbled a shot off Devils goalie Cory Schneider and over the goal line with under a minute to play in regulation, tying the score 3-3.

"I came out of the corner and just tried to get it on net and see if I could get lucky, and that's what happened," Pacorietty said of his game-tying goal.

That set the stage for Galchenyuk's heroics in overtime.

With New Jersey defenseman Damon Severson in the penalty box serving a hooking minor, Galchenyuk wired his 14th goal of the season over Schneider's glove for the game-winner.

Montreal's Alexander Radulov picked up his third assist and season-high fourth point of the night on Galchenyuk's goal.

It was the second straight game in which the Devils (25-25-12) let a third-period lead evaporate into an overtime loss on home ice. New Jersey saw the same scenario in a 4-3 loss on Saturday to the New York Rangers.

"There's a difference between playing well and finding a way to win, and playing well, but unfortunately finding a way to lose," Devils coach John Hynes said. "That's what we've done the last two games."

A ho-hum defensive affair through 40 minutes, with the Devils leading 1-0 on Kyle Palmieri's 19th goal of the season late in the first period, the game picked up in the third period when the teams combined for five goals, with New Jersey holding its lead until the final minute of the period.

Defenseman John Moore beat Montoya with a slap shot 2:38 into the third period, his sixth goal of the season, upping the Devils' lead to 2-0.

Montreal answered back on the next shift when Radulov's long-range snap shot eluded Schneider at 2:49.

"Radulov with a great individual effort there got the boys going," Pacorietty said. "That's why we signed him (last summer). He's a game changer, a difference-maker, and that showed tonight."

New Jersey again went up by two when Zajac jammed home his 13th goal of the season, on a rebound of a Palmieri shot, at 7:54.

However, Pacorietty's pair wiped out New Jersey's lead, and set the stage for the dramatic finish.

Montreal has won two straight and is 3-2-0 since Julien replaced Michel Therrien as head coach.

The Devils have lost four in a row and five of six.

“It's certainly a disappointing loss in the fact that we had lots of good performances and played a good game, but we didn't find a way to win the game," Hynes said.

NOTES: Devils C Jacob Josefson played only three shifts in the first period before leaving the game with an upper-body injury. ... Shortly before the game, the Canadiens acquired D Jordie Benn from the Dallas Stars in exchange for D Greg Pateryn and a fourth-round pick in the 2017 NHL draft. ... Benn did not join the team in time to play Monday. ... The Canadiens scratched C Brian Flynn and RW Michael McCarron, and the Devils scratched RW P.A. Parenteau (finger), D Kyle Quincey and D Seth Helgeson. ... The Devils placed C Pavel Zacha (concussion) on IR and recalled C Blake Coleman from Albany (AHL).