The Montreal Canadiens maintained their dominance over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night, but needed overtime to do so.

Guillaume Latendresse scored 3:18 into overtime as the Canadiens prevailed 4-3 over the visiting Blackhawks before a capacity crowd of 21,273 at the Bell Centre.

Montreal's Saku Koivu (11) greets Tony Esposito, Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita during Tuesday's ceremony.
(Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

Maxim Lapierre set up the decisive tally with a spectacular rush, bursting into the offensive zone and sliding a pass through the slot that Latendresse redirected into the net for his 12th goal of the season.

"It was important for us to get the two points and get a goal like that," Latendresse said. "It was a great feeling.

"We had a lot of chances in the third period, so it was fun to bury it at the end."

Latendresse and Saku Koivu had one goal and one assist apiece for the Canadiens (21-13-8), winners in six of their past eight  meetings with Chicago.

Patrice Brisebois, fully recovered from a right shoulder injury that shelved him for 11 games, and Andrei Markov provided the other goals in support of Cristobal Huet, who posted 25 saves.

Montreal has secured points in each of its past six games, going 4-0-2 over that span.

Chicago, meantime, stumbled to its sixth straight setback and seventh in its last nine games on the road. 

Rookie Jack Skille had a goal and an assist to lead the Blackhawks (19-19-4), who hadn't visited Montreal since Feb. 1, 2004.

"I'm always proud to return to Montreal," said Blackhawks head coach Denis Savard, a member of Montreal's 1993 Stanley Cup-winning team.

"For those who were born here and have been part of the Canadiens family, it is special and it was a fun game. Unfortunately, we only got one point."

Robert Lang and Kris Versteeg scored 18 seconds apart for Chicago, while Patrick Lalime was peppered with 38 shots and foiled Mark Streit on a penalty shot. 

Koivu strikes first

Koivu opened the scoring 4:22 into the first period, taking a centring pass from Latendresse in the slot and deking Lalime to the backhand for his eighth. 

"He got the puck in the corner and saw me in the high slot and made a great play," Koivu said.

After Skille tied it 1-1 with his first NHL goal, Koivu set up Brisebois for the go-ahead goal, his second on a power play at 17:13.

Lang responded with a power-play tally 2:27 into the second period, his 14th on a give-and-go with Duncan Keith, and Versteeg jammed a rebound between Huet's pads 18 seconds later for his second. 

Markov evened proceedings at 3-3 with the man advantage, scoring his 11th on a slapshot from the point at the 8:04 mark.

Prior to the contest, Hall of Famers from both teams participated in a ceremony celebrating the storied Original Six rivalry.

Among the former Canadiens were Yvan Cournoyer, Ken Dryden, Guy Lafleur and Henri (The Pocket Rocket) Richard.

Representing the Blackhawks were the likes of Tony Esposito, Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita.

Montreal leads the 82-year rivalry with a record of 300-148 with 103 ties.

With files from the Canadian Press