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Latendresse extends Blackhawks' slide

Jan 9, 2008 - 5:18 AM MONTREAL (Ticker) -- Two "Original Six" teams continued to travel down different paths on Tuesday.

Guillaume Latendresse scored 3:18 into overtime as the Montreal Canadiens edged the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-3.

Six proved to be the operative number for Chicago, which had its season-high losing streak extended to six games. The Blackhawks are 0-4-2 during the skid.

"We still have things to rectify. We turn the puck over too many times," Chicago coach Denis Savard said. "We shortened our bench, and on defense, we used four or five players and they got a bit tired."

With the victory, Montreal improved to 4-0-2 in its last six contests.

"When your young guys can step up like that and get big goals like that, it increases the confidence," Canadiens captain Saku Koivu said. "Point-wise, I think we're really satisfied, but we also realize defensively, we're not playing as sound as we did earlier. And that's an area where we're trying to improve.

"Offensively, we're feeling more comfortable. And if we work on the defense, then we should be OK."

In overtime, Maxim Lapierre skated into the offensive zone and cut across the high slot before feeding Latendresse on the doorstep. The 29-year-old made no mistake, depositing the puck into the net for his 12th goal of the season.

"It was an amazing feeling. We were so happy to get that goal," Latendresse said. "I was happy to get the win, and I was happy for Max, too, for getting a nice pass like that."

Koivu opened the scoring just 4:22 into the game.

Latendresse fed Koivu in the slot, and the Finn faked goaltender Patrick Lalime to the ice before backhanding a shot that deflected off the right goalpost and into the net. It was Koivu's eighth goal of the season.

Rookie Jack Skille leveled the contest just 84 seconds later by scoring his first career goal.

"It was good to get it off my back. I hope my parents saw it," Skille said. "I drove the net a couple of times and played my gritty game. I was in front of the net and was lucky enough to get a good rebound and put it home.

"To be on this ice sheet was an honor. I told a bunch of guys before the game, 'I want to get my first goal in this building.'"

Defenseman Duncan Keith blasted a shot from the left point that rebounded off Cristobal Huet. Skille corralled the puck and fired it past the screened netminder to tie the game at 1-1.

Montreal was poised to regain the advantage, but Lalime denied Mark Streit with a right pad save on the defenseman's first career penalty shot.

The Canadiens successfully regained the lead when blue-liner Patrice Brisebois wristed a shot from the blue line past Lalime with 2:47 remaining in the first period.

Robert Lang and Kris Versteeg scored 18 seconds apart in the second period to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead.

With Chicago on the power play, Lang accepted a feed from Keith at the right point, skated in and blasted a shot just inside the left post to tie the game 2:27 into the session.

After the ensuing faceoff, Versteeg alertly poked the puck past Huet after a scramble in front to give the Blackhawks the edge.

"They have a lot of good, young, fast forwards and create chances," Huet said. "I wasn't very happy the way they scored in the second period. I have to get my focus back and make sure I get the job done."

Montreal's power play converted for a second time in as many chances when Alexei Kovalev fed Andrei Markov at the left point with a crisp pass. The defenseman, who was named a starter in the All-Star Game later this month, blasted a shot past Lalime and into the top right corner of the net to tie the contest at 3-3 just over eight minutes into the second period.