NHL Hockey Betting

MONTREAL 4, LOS ANGELES 3

MONTREAL With the boos raining down from the disgruntled fans at the Bell Centre, the Montreal Canadiens were in desperate need of a spark. They finally got it, courtesy of some questionable calls in the final two minutes.

Captain Saku Koivu scored a power-play goal with 23 seconds remaining in the third period Saturday, lifting the Canadiens to a 4-3 victory over the Kings that snapped a season-high four-game losing streak.

The Canadiens were handed the late power play after Kings left wing Kyle Calder was called for cross-checking All-Star blue-liner Andrei Markov behind Montreals net.

Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped Markovs slap shot from the blue line, but Quick could not freeze the puck. As it lay in the slot, the netminder accidentally swept it into his own net with his pads, sending those fans at the Bell Centre into a frenzy.

The goal originally was credited to Markov but later awarded to Koivu, who notched his eighth of the season.

The Kings were furious that the officials did not blow the play dead. They also were angry when no penalty was called on Christopher Higgins tying goal with 1:53 remaining in regulation.

The Canadiens returned home Saturday after dropping the final four contests on their five-game road trip. However, Montreal was flat for most of the third period as the Kings were able to nurse a 3-2 lead until the final two minutes.

Los Angeles clamped down defensively, killing two earlier penalties in the third and allowing only four shots in the first 18 minutes of the period.

But Higgins took a lead pass from Maxim Lapierre and dragged down Kings rookie defenseman Drew Doughty as he broke toward the goal.

With Doughty on the ice, Higgins skated in alone and slid the puck between the legs of Quick for his sixth goal of the campaign and first since November 26.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Kings, who had taken a 3-2 lead on Jarret Stolls goal with 1:48 remaining in the second.

Montreal took a 2-1 lead on Andrei Kostitsyns power-play goal, his 17th of the season, 3:53 into the second period. The Kings tied it just under 10 minutes later on All-Star Dustin Browns 20th goal.

TORONTO 5, PITTSBURGH 4

TORONTO Jason Blake capped a wild third period by snapping a tie midway through the session, lifting the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Matt Stajan also scored in the final period as both teams combined to score five times, with Blake providing the decisive goal off a rebound from defenseman Pavel Kubina shot 10:05 into the session.

Ian White staked Toronto to a lead in the first period and Nik Antropov and Alexei Ponikarovsky registered goals in the second, giving the Maple Leafs a 3-1 edge heading into the back-and-forth third period.

Captain Sidney Crosby cut the deficit in half just 55 seconds into the third, but Stajan answered with a goal 98 seconds later to make the score 4-2.

All-Star Evgeni Malkin and Tyler Kennedy scored 74 seconds apart for Pittsburgh to tie the game. Miroslav Satan also scored for the Penguins, who lost for the third time in four games (1-2-1).

MINNESOTA 4, VANCOUVER 3 (OT)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron scored a power-play goal just 1:52 into overtime as the Minnesota Wild handed the Vancouver Canucks their eighth straight defeat with a 4-3 triumph in a battle of Northwest Division foes.

Bergeron finished with two goals and an assist and Pierre-Marc Bouchard notched three assists for Minnesota, which improved to 2-1-0 in its last three games.

Captain Mikko Koivu and Eric Belanger also scored and Niklas Backstrom turned aside 37 shots for the Wild.

Ryan Kesler netted a pair of power-play goals - including a game-tying tally with 16 seconds remaining in regulation - for Vancouver, which lost its franchise-record ninth straight game at General Motors Place.

Defenseman Alex Edler added a goal and an assist and captain Roberto Luongo finished with 23 saves for the Canucks.

BOSTON 1, NY RANGERS 0

BOSTON Tuukka Rask recorded 31 saves for his first career shutout and Marc Savard scored on a deflection in final minute of the second period Saturday, lifting the Boston Bruins to a 1-0 victory over the New York Rangers.

With Manny Fernandez still sidelined and Tim Thomas needing a game off after nine starts, Bruins coach Claude Julien tabbed Rask to make his first start of the season, and the 21-yearold netminder responded with a stellar performance.

Savards goal was a crusher for the Rangers. With time running out in the period, New York Nigel Dawes failed to get the puck out of the zone at the blue line.

Savard, left wide open in the slot by Rangers defenseman, Michal Rozsival deflected Dennis Widemans slap shot from the right point past New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

WASHINGTON 4, DETROIT 2

WASHINGTON Alex Ovechkin scored twice within a 76-second span late in the third period Saturday, lifting the Washington Capitals to a 4-2 victory over the slumping Detroit Red Wings.

Ovechkin, who missed practice Wednesday after crashing into the boards in the previous nights 3-2 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins, recorded his 32nd and 33rd goals of the season to take over the NHLs goal-scoring lead from Philadelphias Jeff Carter.

Ovechkin snapped a 2-2 tie with an unassisted goal with 7:08 left in the third, then scored on the power play to give Washington a two-goal cushion.

The defeat extended the Red Wings season-high losing streak to five games. Detroit again played without Henrik Zetterberg, who remains sidelined with back spasms.

ANAHEIM 4, COLORADO 3

DENVER Ryan Getzlaf and defenseman Scott Niedermayer had a goal and two assists each and Teemu Selanne scored the go-ahead goal 5:03 into the third period to lift the Anaheim Ducks to a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.

A power-play goal by Niedermayer late in the second period knotted the game at 3-3 heading into the third, and Selanne batted a loose puck from in front of the net past Peter Budaj for the game-winner.

George Parros also had a goal for the Ducks, who rallied from deficits of 1-0 and 3-2.

Ian Laperriere had a goal, John-Michael Liles scored a shorthander and Milan Hejduk added a power-play tally for Colorado, which has lost seven of eight.

DALLAS 7, COLUMBUS 3

COLUMBUS, Ohio Rookie James Neal recorded two goals and an assist and Loui Eriksson both scored and set up a goal as the Dallas Stars posted a 7-3 triumph over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Brian Sutherby, Steve Ott and defenseman Trevor Daley also tallied and blue-liner Andrew Hutchinson netted his first goal of the season for Dallas, which won its fourth contest in a row.

Mike Modano notched two assists and Marty Turco finished with 35 saves for the Stars.

Kristian Huselius, Fedor Tyutin and Jared Boll scored for Columbus, which saw its modest two-game winning streak come to an end.

NY ISLANDERS 3, FLORIDA 1

UNIONDALE, New York Yann Danis made 37 saves to lead the New York Islanders to a 3-1 victory over the Florida Panthers.

Danis nearly recorded his first shutout of the season, but Gregory Campbell scored for Florida with 87 seconds left in the third period.

Mike Comrie gave the Islanders the lead with a first-period tally and captain Bill Guerin and rookie Kyle Okposo scored in the final session for New York, which has won three straight.

Tomas Vokoun made 28 saves for the Panthers.

CAROLINA 2, ATLANTA 0

RALEIGH, North Carolina Cam Ward made 19 saves and Matt Cullen scored a goal and set up another as the Carolina Hurricanes blanked the Atlanta Thrashers, 2-0, in battle of Southeast Division rivals.

The 24-year-old Ward turned aside four shots in both the first and third periods, while stopping 11 shots in the second to notch his third shutout of the season and ninth career.

Ray Whitney also tallied for the Hurricanes, who have won four of their last five after suffering through a season-high five-game losing streak.

Kari Lehtonen stopped 38 shots for the Thrashers, who dropped their fourth straight contest.

ST LOUIS 4, PHILADELPHIA 0

ST. LOUIS Chris Mason helped out at both ends of the ice.

Mason made 36 saves to record his third shutout of the season and collected an assist as the St. Louis Blues skated to a 4-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Jay McClement, defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo, David Backes and rookie Patrik Berglund scored for the Blues, who defeated the Flyers at the Scottrade Center for the first time since February 29, 2000.

The 32-year-old Mason turned aside nine shots in the first period, 12 more in the next and 15 in the third to complete his 15th career blanking.

T.J. Oshie and Brad Boyes had two assists apiece for St. Louis, which snapped a four-game losing streak to Philadelphia and improved to 4-1-1 over its last six contests.

BUFFALO 2, PHOENIX 0

GLENDALE, Arizona Ryan Miller made 28 saves and the Buffalo Sabres used an offensive spurt in the second period to post a 2-0 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes.

Tim Connolly and Daniel Paille each tallied in the middle session for the Sabres, who continued their six-game road trip by bouncing back from Wednesdays 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames.

The 28-year-old Miller turned aside 15 shots in the first, three in the second and 10 in the third to secure his fourth shutout of the season and 11th career.

Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 19 shots for Phoenix, which was blanked for the second straight contest.

CHICAGO 4, SAN JOSE 2

SAN JOSE, California Captain Jonathan Toews scored two goals as the Chicago Blackhawks snapped a 13-game losing streak to the San Jose Sharks with a 4-2 victory.

Rookie Kris Versteeg netted a shorthanded tally, defenseman Duncan Keith tallied on a power play and Nikolai Khabibulin made 32 saves for the Blackhawks, who had lost three of their last four contests.

Blue-liner Christian Ehrhoff and Milan Michalek both scored, Joe Pavelski had two assists and Evgeni Nabokov turned aside 25 shots for the Sharks, who fell to 23-2-2 at home this season.