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Samsonov, Koivu lead Canadiens to third straight win

Feb 23, 2007 - 7:34 AM NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Captain Saku Koivu proved the Montreal Canadiens have righted the ship behind their rookie goaltender.

Koivu scored in the fourth round of the shootout after notching two assists in regulation as the Canadiens extended their winning streak to three games with a 6-5 triumph over the struggling Nashville Predators.

Montreal had lost six in a row before posting a 3-2 victory over Columbus on Sunday behind netminder Jaroslav Halak, who was making his NHL debut. With All-Star Cristobal Huet out for the remainder of the regular season following hamstring surgery and backup David Aebischer slumping, Halak again got the start against Washington on Tuesday and came away with a 5-3 win.

Things looked bleak for the Slovakian in this one as the Canadiens never led and trailed, 5-4, in the final minute of the third period. But Sergei Samsonov tallied with 48 seconds remaining to forge a tie and, after a scoreless overtime, Montreal came through in the shootout, in partial thanks to a miscue by Peter Forsberg.

After Tomas Plekanec scored to open the third round and keep alive the Canadiens' chances, Martin Erat was unsuccessful against Halak. Koivu put Montreal in front by deking and lifting a backhander past goaltender Tomas Vokoun, leaving Nashville's fate in the hands of its newest acquisition.

"(Vokoun) catches in the wrong way, his glove is on the right side, and I just thought he couldn't be quick enough on his blocker side," Koivu said. "Usually, the goalie can't get the blocker up as quickly as the glove."

Obtained last week from Philadelphia, Forsberg skated in on Halak and attempted to change direction at the top of the crease. But the Swedish superstar lost his footing and fell to the ice without getting off a shot, giving Halak and the Canadiens their third straight victory.

"It was not one of my best penalty shots in my career," said Forsberg, who has yet to record a point in three games with the Predators. "I was trying to stop and go upstairs. Not a good move."

"The guys scored five goals and we went to the shootout, so it was a little bit of luck," Halak said. "It's great that we battled back."

Defenseman Mark Streit had a goal and an assist and Samsonov also set up a tally for Montreal, which remained one point ahead of eighth-place Carolina in the Eastern Conference.

"We've won three in a row, but before that, we have played with a lot of inconsistency and didn't get enough wins or the points we wanted," Koivu said. "Right now, every game is a must win for us, and if we can steal two points here, it was huge for us."

Steve Sullivan and Scott Hartnell each had a tally and an assist for the Predators, who have lost four of their last six games.

"It was a tough one to swallow, personally and for the team," said Vokoun, who made just 22 saves. "It was a bad game. When we score five goals, we should win. ... I had chances there to stop it, and I didn't do it."

Nashville jumped to an early 2-0 lead as Sullivan netted a power-play goal 82 seconds into the opening period and defenseman Shea Weber scored his 11th of the season with a wrist shot from the left point at 3:57.

"It wasn't easy to go down 2-0," Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said. "We kept playing. We knew we were going to get chances and we took advantage of our chances."

Michael Ryder tallied for the fourth time in three games during a 5-on-3 advantage midway through the first and, after Hartnell cashed in on a power play, Streit tapped in a feed from Samsonov with 3:33 left in the session to draw Montreal within 3-2.

J.P. Dumont, who extended his goal-scoring streak to three games, and Garth Murray traded second-period goals before Alexander Perezhogin forged a 4-4 tie at 4:08 of the third with a wrister from the right faceoff circle that sailed over Vokoun's left shoulder for a power-play tally.

"We are a really good team this year 5-on-5, but we didn't show it tonight," Dumont said. "We had the lead by two goals a few times and we always let them come back in the game. That's not our kind of hockey."

David Legwand netted his 100th career goal less than two minutes later to put the Predators back in front, but Samsonov converted Plekanec's backhand pass from behind the net in the final minute to send the game to overtime.

"Obviously, you want to be out there when your team needs a goal, and it was nice to come through," Samsonov said. "Plekanec looked like he was going to go far side, and he turned and gave a pass to the short side. I was right there, and I just tried to pull it in and go top shelf, and it happened."

"Samsonov played probably his best game, and that is a good sign for us," Carbonneau said.