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Kostitsyn lifts Canadiens over Maple Leafs

Mar 18, 2007 - 4:26 AM MONTREAL (Ticker) -- Rookie Andrei Kostitsyn's first two goals of the season were as big as can be.

Kostitsyn scored his first goal of the season in regulation and netted the decisive tally in the shootout as the Montreal Canadiens posted a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Rookie goaltender Jaroslav Halak made 37 saves for the Canadiens (36-31-6), who moved into a three-way tie with the Maple Leafs (34-28-10)and the New York Islanders (34-27-10) for ninth place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the New York Rangers.

Kostitsyn deked Toronto goaltender Andrew Raycroft and slid the puck past him to start the fourth round of the shootout.

"My move was my favorite move, I saw Saku (Koivu) do it before and knew I could do same motion and score," Kostitsyn said.

Halak, who entered with four straight losses, preserved the victory by denying Darcy Tucker with a glove save.

"I thought it might have been in but when I saw the puck come (away) from the goal line I was really happy," Halak said. "Actually I do like shootouts, I enjoy it."

Kostitsyn scored his first goal of the season when he blasted a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle between Raycroft's pads at 6:05 of the first period.

"He (Kostitsyn) is an unbelievable talent," Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said. "He has a great shot but once again a good shot, if you don't use it, is useless. He was good again tonight."

Kyle Wellwood and defenseman Pavel Kubina scored and Raycroft made 29 saves for the Maple Leafs, who lost their second straight game.

Kubina tied the game, 2-2, at 8:41 of the third period when he took Wellwood's pass and blasted a slap shot from the high slot over Halak's glove for his second goal in his last 17 contests.

Koivu also scored for the Canadiens, who have won just two of their last eight games.

"If we had lost this game it would have been real tough to get back in the race," Koivu said. "Now we are tied, that extra point was big for us. The situation for both teams from here on until the end is that every game is a playoff game and a must win. We'll battle for the next two weeks and see where that takes us."

Raycroft made 29 saves for the Maple Leafs, who suffered an embarrassing 5-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Friday and have lost two straight.

"Last night was a bit of a disaster all-around," Raycroft said. "We didn't play well enough to deserve to get two points, and tonight we did not deserve it either."