TORONTO - Lars Eller was right where he wanted to be. The game was his to win for the Montreal Canadiens and he made good on the chance.

The Canadiens' center scored the final and decisive goal of the shootout and Montreal defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Saturday night.

Eller said he liked having the game in his hands.

"You have to like it," said Eller, also had an assist in regulation time. "That's what you live for as an athlete. Of course, I was a little bit nervous but you've got to be a little bit nervous in that situation. You know, it's fun. It's where you want to be."

Eller was the fifth Montreal shooter after each team had scored a goal in the first four rounds.

Center David Desharnais and left winger Tomas Fleischmann scored for the Canadiens in regulation time.

Center Nazem Kadri and left winger Joffrey Lupul scored for the Maple Leafs.

Toronto goaltender James Reimer made 27 saves.

Montreal goaltender Mike Condon stopped 17 shots.

"As a player you want to contribute when the game is on the line," said Condon, who allowed only a goal to center Peter Holland in the first round of the shootout. "I was just trying to give the guys a chance."

Both teams are struggling. The win was only the fifth for the Canadiens in their past 22 games. They had lost their five previous games, including one in overtime.

The Maple Leafs have lost seven of their past eight games, including one in overtime and the game Saturday in a shootout.

"The thing is tonight again I thought the guys deserved to win," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. "We played tight. After three periods we only gave up 17 shots, it's pretty amazing. That's a great accomplishment for a team, in the NHL."

Montreal built a 2-0 lead in the first period and Toronto got one back in the second.

"We didn't do as good of a job (in the first period) as we would have liked," Lupul said. "You have to give credit to them, too. They played like a desperate team at the start and put a ton of pressure on us. We came in here and had chat after the first and turned it around so that's a good thing."

The Maple Leafs (17-20-9) tied the game 2-2 on the 11th goal of the season by Lupul, who scooped in a rebound of a shot by center Peter Holland at 4:37 of the third period.

Reimer foiled the Canadiens at 7:29 of the third, stopping a backhand by right winger Brendan Gallagher who broke in alone.

Then at 10:15, a Montreal shot hit each post but did not cross the line.

Montreal (24-20-4) went on the power play at 16:54 of the third when Toronto left winger Josh Leivo took a delay-of-game penalty but the Maple Leafs killed it to force overtime.

Desharnais scored his ninth goal of the season -- and second in his past 26 games -- at 1:41 of the first period on a shot from low in the left faceoff circle. It completed a three-way passing play with right winger Dale Weise and defenseman Nathan Beaulieu.

Fleischmann scored his ninth goal of the season on a wrist shot from the high slot at 18:33 of the first period on a pass from Eller and Montreal led 2-0.

The Canadiens outshot the Maple Leafs 14-3 in the first period.

"I thought the goalie was good, I thought we were poor (in the first period)," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "We gave them (Thursday) off, we won't be doing that again. We weren't ready to go and didn't compete hard. ... We got going, we battled our way back into the game and we were in a good spot, too.

"Reims gave us a chance in the shootout. We had to find the second one for him there to win the game. I thought we battled back for sure and gave ourselves a chance. We had a real good penalty kill, so that was positive."

The Maple Leafs cut the lead to 2-1 at 8:14 of the second period. Defenseman Morgan Rielly backhanded a pass from the right faceoff circle into the low slot and Kadri knocked it in for his ninth goal of the season.

The Leafs outshot the Habs 8-5 in the second period.

NOTES: Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin ended speculation about a possible coaching change because of Montreal's struggles when he said Thursday that Michel Therrien will remain in the position for at least the rest of the season. ... G Carey Price (lower body) is expected to remain out of the lineup for three or four more weeks. ... Maple Leafs C Nick Spaling (upper body) is close to a return but missed his 16th game because of his injury. ... Montreal won the first two meetings between the teams this season. The teams play once more, on Feb. 27 at Air Canada Centre. ... The Canadiens play their next game on Monday in Columbus against the Blue Jackets. The Maple Leafs visit the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.