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Montreal Canadiens Tom Kostopoulos (L) gets a hug from goalie Carey Price after scoring in overtime to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of their NHL Eastern Conference semi-final hockey game in Montreal, April 24, 2008. (REUTERS/Christinne Muschi) |
Canadiens seal OT win over Flyers
MONTREAL (Reuters) - The Montreal Canadiens edged the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in overtime on Thursday, scoring two goals in 77 seconds to win the first game of their Eastern Conference semi-final series.
Tom Kostopoulos scored the winner 48 seconds into overtime, banging in a rebound on a shot from Andrei Markov to the delight of the 21,273 fans packed into Montreal's home arena.
"I'll remember it for the rest of my life, but now we've got to start thinking about Saturday," Kostopoulos told reporters.
Game two of the series is in Montreal on Saturday before moving to Philadelphia.
In Detroit, meanwhile, the Red Wings scored three times in the first period and beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 to take a 1-0 lead in their Western Conference semi-final series.
Johan Franzen clinched the win with his second goal of the game in second period.
Flyers center R.J. Umberger opened the scoring 13 minutes into the game after his shot bounced in off the stick of Canadiens' defenseman Patrice Brisebois.
The Flyers doubled their lead three minutes later when Jim Dowd one-timed a pass from Steve Downie to blast the puck past Canadiens netminder Carey Price.
Montreal, top seeds in the East and hoping to win their 25th Stanley Cup, were awarded a penalty shot at 6:32 of the second period when Andrei Kostitsyn was tripped while on a scoring chance.
Kostitsyn tried to fake right and swing left to Philadelphia goaltender Martin Biron's stick side, but Biron made a gritty save by stretching his leg back to block the 23-year-old Belarussian's attempt to tuck in the puck.
WRIST SHOT
However, Kostitsyn got his revenge just before the 10-minute mark in the period when he picked up a pass from his 21-year-old brother Sergei and fired a wrist shot past Biron.
Montreal tied the score at 2-2 at 16:03 on a controversial shorthanded goal by Alex Kovalev.
Officials took several minutes to review the play before determining Kovalev's stick was not too high when he banged home a rebound off a long shot by Tomas Plekanec.
Kovalev made no apologies for the chest-high whack at the puck.
"We got the goal, we got the win, that's all that matters," Kovalev said.
"We always believe in ourselves, that we can come back, that we can score a few goals, and that's what we did."
Philadelphia went ahead 3-2 early in the third period went Braydon Coburn's shot bounced off the leg of team mate Joffrey Lupul and into the net.
Kovalev scored his second with 29 seconds left on the clock to send the game into overtime. The Canadiens had pulled Price for an extra skater on a powerplay opportunity and made the most of it -- Kovalev scoring on a pass from captain Saku Koivu.
During the game, the Canadiens' organization broadcast public service pleas from their players asking fans to celebrate peacefully after the game.
Dozens of rioters burned police cars and vandalized shops in downtown Montreal on Monday after the Habs dispatched the Boston Bruins in the seventh game of that series.
(Reporting by Robert Melnbardis; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Alastair Himmer)
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