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Habs battle Oilers in Edmonton

Feb 17, 2011 - 4:11 PM (Sports Network) - Though they failed to hold a lead last time out, the Canadiens were still able to move into a tie atop the Northeast Division.

Montreal will try to take over sole possession this evening and earn its first victory at Edmonton in over seven years with a matchup against the Oilers at Rexall Place.

The Canadiens have lost four of their last five, but went 1-0-2 on a three- game homestand. With the Bruins having dropped three straight in regulation, Tuesday's 3-2 shootout setback to the Sabres was good enough to move Montreal even with Boston in the division race with 69 points. The Habs now try to vault past the Bruins, who visit the New York Islanders tonight.

Montreal had a chance to grab first place for itself after Benoit Pouliot and Max Pacioretty scored to give their club a 2-0 lead in the second period. However, Buffalo scored twice before winning a 10-round shootout.

"The second half of the game we were on our heels," said Montreal forward Brian Gionta. "It's a tough one to give up another point. We have to do a better job when we have the lead. It's a big two points to give up and that extra one leaves us empty. We've lost some of our consistency and we have to find it again."

Carey Price made 30 stops in the loss for the Habs, who begin a three-game tour of Western Canada.

Defenseman Hal Gill missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury and Jaroslav Spacek sat out with a lower-body ailment. Spacek was replaced at the blue line by Brendon Nash, who made his NHL debut.

With Spacek not traveling with the club and Gill not yet ready to return, the Canadiens acquired defenseman Paul Mara from the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2012. Mara played in 42 games with the Habs in 2009-10 and had a goal and an assist in 33 games with the Ducks this year.

Montreal also failed to hold a lead when it hosted Edmonton on Dec. 1. Up 3-1, the Canadiens gave up third-period tallies to Ales Hemsky and Sam Gagner before the Oilers' Dustin Penner notched the game-winner with 2:32 left in overtime for a 4-3 finish.

Though the teams have alternated wins and losses in the past 11 meetings dating back to January of 2003, the Canadiens have lost three straight and seven of their past eight at Edmonton and haven't won there since Nov. 22, 2003.

Price stopped 28-of-32 shots in the loss, falling to 1-2-1 with a 4.20 goals- against average versus the Oilers.

Not only has Edmonton had Montreal's number at home as of late, but the club is also coming off just its third victory in its past 15 games (3-11-1). Shawn Horcoff had a goal and two assists in Tuesday's 4-1 victory over Dallas.

Nikolai Khabibulin made 24 saves for his first victory since Dec. 16, snapping a personal 14-game losing streak, while Ales Hemsky, Jordan Eberle and Taylor Chorney added goals in a victory that came one day after general manager Steve Tambellini held a closed-door meeting with the players prior to practice.

"It was great," Horcoff said of the win. "We obviously got challenged [Monday] and, you know, 23 guys showed up tonight and played a great game. The last two games haven't been indicative of the way we've been playing. I thought before that we were putting in some good efforts and weren't getting the results."

Edmonton, which is still last in the NHL with 42 points, also snapped a seven- game home losing streak in the fourth contest of a six-game homestand. It is just 8-17-4 as the host this season and hasn't won back-to-back games since a four-game win streak from NOv. 29-Dec. 4.

Khabibulin is 6-6-0 with four ties and a 2.68 GAA in his career versus the Habs, while Dubnyk is 1-0-1 with a 3.29 GAA and made 36 saves in the earlier win this season.