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Wednesday, Nov. 8 7:30pm ET
Canadiens back in the win column | |||||
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BOX SCORE
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- It wasn't too early in the season for the Montreal Canadiens to feel the pressure to win. Brian Savage scored one of Montreal's three special-teams goals Wednesday night as the Canadiens beat the Florida Panthers 4-2, snapping a five-game losing streak. The Canadiens, who have missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1920-22, won a matchup of last-place teams by scoring twice on the power play and once while short-handed. "We played desperate tonight," said Canadiens forward Jim Campbell, who scored his second goal. "We decided that we had to find a way to pull this one out. We beat them with hustle and we won the battles. We proved that we're a team that's not going to give up." Savage and Andrei Markov each scored with a man-advantage and Oleg Petrov added one with Montreal short-handed as the Canadiens earned their first victory in seven road games. "That was a well-deserved win," coach Alain Vigneault said. "We won it with our special teams. Anytime you can score on the power play and pick up a short-handed goal, you're going to be in good shape." Florida, last in the Southeast Division, lost its fourth straight game and has just one win this season (1-6-3-3). "We just have to get better and score when we get those chances," Florida's Pavel Bure said. "We're getting a bit frustrated and maybe we are losing some of our confidence." Montreal scored twice within a three-minute span of the second and third periods to open a 4-2 lead. Campbell scored from the slot to make it 3-2 with 1:51 left in the middle period, and Markov's goal, a blast from the top of the left circle, came just 35 seconds into the third. "That gave us the lead and the momentum," Petrov said. "This game is all about momentum and those two quick goals gave us the spurt we needed." Florida's Mike Sillinger sent a one-timer past Jose Theodore to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead 11:42 in. "We made some bad passes, we had lots of opportunities," coach Terry Murray said. "We're not creating anything or doing the things that make a difference." Montreal tied it on Savage's sixth goal of the season with 1:33 left in the first. Petrov made it 2-1 with Montreal's first short-handed goal of the season. The shot, from just inside the blue line, was Petrov's third and the fourth short-handed goal allowed this season by the Panthers. "We had outstanding special teams," Petrov said. "We won in all of those categories. You're going to win most hockey games when you do that." Florida, outshot 36-29, tied it 2-2 on Ivan Novoseltsev's goal from just outside the crease at 9:29 of the second. Game notesSillinger bruised his left foot in the second period and did not return. ... Bure's assist on Sillinger's goal gave him 599 career points. ... Newly acquired Greg Adams earned his first point with the Panthers, also assisting on Sillinger's goal. Adams was selected as the game's third star. ... It was only the second time in six games the Canadiens have scored than two goals. ... Montreal allowed 14 goals in its previous three games. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Montreal Clubhouse Florida Clubhouse RECAPS Pittsburgh 5 Philadelphia 2
Montreal 4 AUDIO/VIDEO   Jim Campbell fires the shot past Jose Theodore.avi: 610 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||