On a night when the Montreal Canadiens introduced a slew of a new faces to their lineup, it was a familiar one that stole the show.

Carey Price stopped 43 shots and delivered a strong statement after enduring an off-season of questions about his play as Montreal downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime Thursday night.

"He was unbelievable,'' said defenceman Josh Gorges, who scored with 12.8 seconds showing on the overtime clock. "He held us in there when the game could have got out of hand.''

The last time Canadiens fans saw the young goalie in a meaningful game, he gestured to them while getting booed at home during a first-round playoff loss to Boston. Price was the biggest reason why Montreal pulled out an unlikely opening-night victory.

"Carey stood on his head,'' forward Mike Cammalleri said. "I just talked to him and said, 'We've got to be better for you and we will.' The truth is that we expect him to do that from time to time because that's how good he is.''

"He won us the game.''

Resilience

The Canadiens were badly outshot and thoroughly outplayed through two periods, but found a way to hang around. They got some help from former teammate Mike Komisarek, who was in the penalty box for two Montreal goals.

Brian Gionta and Travis Moen scored in their debuts for Montreal, and fourth-line forward Glen Metropolit tied the game during a late power play. He was surprised to be on the ice to tip a shot from Gorges behind Vesa Toskala at 15:50 of the third period.

"It's just one of those things,'' Metropolit said. "I couldn't believe I was on the power play, so I'm like, 'Where do I go?' So I said, 'Why not go to the front of the net?'''

That is the same place Gorges went on the winner, batting a rebound over Toskala after Cammalleri took the puck hard to the net. It was his sixth NHL goal in 247 career games.

"That's a great way to start the season,'' Gorges said. "I don't score many goals.''