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Markov turns in All-Star outing as Canadiens roll

Jan 16, 2009 - 5:18 AM MONTREAL (Ticker) -- Once again, defenseman Andrei Markov looked the part of an All-Star.

Slated to start his second consecutive All-Star Game later this month, Markov helped the Montreal Canadiens continue their dominance at home Thursday by recording a goal and an assist in a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators.

Guillaume Latendresse and Andrei Kostitsyn also scored while Robert Lang notched two assists for the Canadiens, who posted their fourth straight victory at the Bell Centre and fifth in their last six games overall.

"We played a solid first period, but in the second and late in the third, they were putting on a lot of pressure," Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said. "We were taking too long on some shifts and making little mistakes, but it doesn't matter how we won the game - two points is two points."

J.P. Dumont and Vernon Fiddler tallied for Nashville, which was without the services of injured All-Star blue-liner Shea Weber and captain Jason Arnott.

"Arnott has probably been our most consistent forward all year, and he's a big, big body and he always plays well when he's in Montreal, and Shea is one of those dominant defensemen," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "We miss those guys, but obviously they're missing people, too. We don't use that as an excuse. We missed some chances."

Markov did his part in helping Montreal seize the chance to right itself following Tuesday's 3-1 setback to the Boston Bruins before beginning a five-game road trip in Ottawa on Saturday.

Coming off a campaign in which he set career highs of 16 goals and 58 points, Markov anchored a depleted defensive unit that was without fellow All-Star goaltender Carey Price for a seventh straight contest - and rose to the occasion on the offensive end as well.

"We've been playing well lately and scoring a lot of goals," Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak said. "I think that's the key for us. Even when we give up some goals, we get one more goal than the opposition."

Markov set up Kostitsyn's power-play goal that gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead at 8:46 of the second period and provided what proved to be an important tally 65 seconds into the following session.

"We knew they were going to come hard," Dumont said. "They have a lot of skill and a lot of speed, and a few bounces for them cost us the game. That's the kind of game we try to play - try to keep it tight and try to play a good, grinding game. We played our game, but we came up short."

Just over five minutes after Markov beat rookie netminder Pekka Rinne with a hard slap shot from the high slot, Fiddler pulled the Predators within 3-2 by beating Halak with a backhander.

But Halak preserved the one-goal advantage and finished with 23 saves, improving to 5-2-0 in the absence of Price, who is sidelined with a lower body injury.

"I felt comfortable," Halak said. "Sometimes the bounces don't go our way, but tonight we got the two points."

Although his team failed to force overtime, Trotz was encouraged by Nashville's effort toward the end.

"We had chances to tie it up, but that's hockey," Trotz said. "You get some breaks, you work hard. Next game, we'll do the same things we did tonight and we'll have a better result, hopefully."

Latendresse opened the scoring with 34 seconds remaining in the first period, but Dumont forged a tie 6:35 into the second by tipping the puck past Halak from the low slot.

"It didn't matter where it was, it was a huge goal for me," said Dumont, who ended a 16-game drought. "I've had some great chances in the past few games and the puck didn't want to go in. I was just lucky to tip it, and it went in. That's how those things go, usually."

Rinne turned aside 17 shots for the Predators, who failed to build off Tuesday's 2-0 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"Sometimes it's not going to be pretty," Lang said. "Sometimes when you have a lead, you tend to sit back a play a little bit more cautious. We had chances to put them away, but we hit a post and had a couple of other chances. Their goalie and (Halak) played well, and it was a good battle."