Canadiens 5, Blues 2: Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher each scored a pair of goals as visiting Montreal maintained its one-point lead atop the Eastern Conference.

Carey Price (27 saves) eclipsed the franchise record set by Rogie Vachon with his ninth consecutive road win and improved to 7-0-1 in his last eight starts. Michael Bournival scored 49 seconds after Gallagher's first tally and Galchenyuk added an assist while defensemen P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov each set up a pair of goals.

T.J. Oshie recorded a goal and an assist while captain David Backes also tallied for the Blues, who finished a 1-3-0 homestand and dropped nine points behind first-place Nashville in the Central Division. Rookie Jake Allen (18 saves) had his six-game winning streak halted, losing for the first time since Dec. 27.

Galchenyuk netted the lone goal of the first period with a deft deflection of Subban's blast from the right point before doubling the lead at 3:11 of the second, corralling the puck off a faceoff before beating Allen with a sharp-angle shot from the bottom of the left circle. Backes' redirection less than three minutes later cut the Blues' deficit in half before Montreal pulled away.

Gallagher pounced on Vladimir Tarasenko's attempted drop pass and finished a 2-on-1 rush by beating Allen low to the stick side at 15:49 before Bournival came out of the penalty box less than a minute later and converted a breakaway chance with 3:22 left in the period. Oshie answered 67 seconds later to draw St. Louis within 4-2, but Gallagher sealed it with a power-play tally with 4:13 to play in the third.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Montreal acquired RW Devante Smith-Pelly from Anaheim on Tuesday for rookie LW Jiri Sekac in a swap of 22-year-olds born four days apart. Smith-Pelly has recorded five goals and 17 points in 54 games this season. ... Backes joined Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz as the third St. Louis player to reach the 20-goal plateau this season. ... Galchenyuk registered his third multi-goal performance this season and boosted his career-high season total to 18 tallies.