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Souray, Canadiens edge Penguins in overtime

Feb 4, 2007 - 11:52 PM MONTREAL (Ticker) -- All-Star Sheldon Souray and the Montreal Canadiens capitalized on Sidney Crosby's misguided blunder.

Souray netted the game-winning goal two minutes into overtime as the Canadiens rallied for a 4-3 triumph over Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

With the victory, Montreal avenged Thursday's 5-4 shootout loss in Pittsburgh, a game in which Crosby recorded three assists.

The top draft selection in 2005 and arguably the brightest young superstar in the NHL, Crosby assisted on Pittsburgh's first two goals Sunday to improve his league-leading total to 59.

But the All-Star center made a crucial mistake in the extra session, an error which directly led to the end of the Penguins' season-high six-game winning streak.

"It's part of the process about learning," Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien said. "I'm OK with this as long as we don't repeat the same mistake."

Looking to create a passing lane deep in Montreal's zone, Crosby carried the puck behind the Canadiens' net and through the left faceoff circle near the blue line. After evading a pair of defenders, Crosby attempted to deke his way through the right circle and into the slot.

But the 19-year-old Crosby did not dump the puck in time, and Montreal's Tomas Plekanec took advantage, deflecting the puck away from Crosby and racing up the left boards.

"I was trying to make a move and when you're high in the zone you take a chance of losing the puck," Crosby said. "I have to learn from that. I had one hand on my stick and I was just trying to get around. I looked up and - I think it was Plekanec - he got the puck."

"He's not the type of guy to lose the puck," Therrien said. "He's a pretty strong guy, but overall we leave the building here with one point."

After crossing Pittsburgh's blue line, Plekanec sent a cross-slot pass to Souray, who banged home the game-winning one-timer from the right circle 2:01 into the extra session for his career-high 18th goal.

"I was thinking of taking the shot for once but the defense tried to step up, so I made the pass to Shelly," Plekanec said.

"That's what it's all about," Souray added. "We already had one point, so we weren't looking to take any chances. But we got the puck and I was just in the right position to get up ice, and Plekanec made a great pass to me."

A starting defenseman in last month's All-Star Game in Dallas, Souray leads all NHL blue-liners in goals and is second with 44 points, three behind Detroit All-Star Nicklas Lidstrom.

Plekanec tallied twice along with his assist on the game-winner while Souray and Alexei Kovalev each had two assists for the Canadiens, who looked sluggish over the first two sessions before rallying in the third.

"It was a big team victory today," Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said. "We played minute by minute, period by period, and we had a very good effort from everyone."

Carbonneau, who was livid with his club following Saturday's loss to the New York Islanders, made several lineup changes pivotal to Sunday's win.

"I didn't like the effort yesterday and I said that," Carbonneau said. "So I made the changes to see them go out to work tonight. Unfortunately it was (Sergei Samsonov) and (Alexander) Perezhogin (sitting), but it could have been other guys."

David Aebischer was brilliant in thwarting Pittsburgh's high-powered offense, turning aside 31 shots, including 24 over the first two sessions.

"Aebischer was solid," Carbonneau said. "He merits more starts."

Montreal bailed out its veteran goalie in the third period, allowing the Penguins to attempt just eight shots over the game's final 22 minutes.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury could not stop the rejuvenated Canadiens when it mattered most, turning aside just 10-of-13 shots in the third and overtime sessions.

"We controlled most of the game," said Therrien, whose club yielded a pair of power-play goals in the third period. "We played a decent game. Our penalty killing was not good obviously, but 5-on-5, we used our speed really well."

Montreal took a 3-2 lead six minutes into the third period when defenseman Mark Streit gathered a rebound near the left goalpost and buried his sixth goal past Fleury.

But Pittsburgh forged a 3-3 tie with just 2:34 left in regulation when blue-liner Ryan Whitney took a feed along the left boards and sent a centering feed to Michel Ouellet, who deflected a power-play tally past Aebischer for his 11th goal.

The Canadiens nearly won the game in regulation, but Fleury made several outstanding saves in the waning seconds, including a glove save on defenseman Craig Rivet's slap shot with 16 seconds left.

Fleury finished with 25 saves, losing for the first time since a 5-4 overtime defeat at Boston on January 18. The top overall draft pick in 2003, the 22-year-old Fleury had recorded a pair of shutouts in his previous three games.