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BOX SCORE
MONTREAL (AP) -- Dan Cloutier knew that he made his biggest save of the game in the nick of time.
|  | | Dan Cloutier made 25 saves for the Canucks, who finally won at the Molson Centre. |
Markus Naslund scored his 34th goal of the season and Cloutier
made 25 saves -- including a game-saver in the game's final seconds
-- as the Vancouver Canucks extended their winning streak to three
with a 2-1 victory Wednesday night over the Montreal Canadiens.
The Canadiens were denied the tying goal when Cloutier made a
glove save, as he sat in the Vancouver net, on Saku Koivu's shot from the edge of the crease with 1.5 seconds left.
"When I went and grabbed it, my glove hit the post at the same time, so I knew that it was out," Cloutier said.
Koivu, who raised his hands in a short-lived celebration, wasn't
so sure Cloutier was quick enough to prevent the puck from breaking
the plane of the goal line.
"I went straight to the ref and told him to go upstairs because I thought it was in," Koivu said.
A video review upheld the referee's decision that the puck
didn't cross the goal line when Cloutier made the stop.
"They came out hard that last shift and it was just a lucky
bounce," Cloutier said. "I tried to cover as much of the net as
possible and it just happened to hit my glove."
Another Montreal goal was disallowed in the second period when
referee Richard Trottier ruled that Oleg Petrov didn't make an
effort to vacate the Vancouver net while rookie Mathieu Descoteaux
fired a shot past Cloutier.
"It obviously interfered so that I couldn't get down and stop
the puck," Cloutier said. "It's not like it was that hard of a
shot to stop. It was on the ice. The guy had a lot of time and I
had a lot of time, but I was stuck underneath."
Daniel Sedin also scored for Vancouver, which won its first game at the Molson Centre and first in Montreal since Nov. 28, 1992.
Descoteaux did score his first NHL goal to make it 1-0 at 15:06 of the first. It was the first time this season that Montreal lost in regulation after scoring the opening goal.
"It's a dream come true," said Descoteaux, who grew up a Canadiens fan in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. "Growing up, I watched all the games. I had everything -- a tuque, gloves, jacket, it was
all 'Montreal Canadiens', so being able to score my first NHL goal
in my first game at the Molson Centre -- it's a pretty amazing feeling."
Sedin scored his 15th goal to tie it with four seconds left in the period as he took a pass from his brother Henrik and beat goalie Jose Theodore.
Naslund increased his team-leading goal total 1:53 into the
second when he deked Montreal defenseman Patrice Brisebois just
past the Canadiens blue line and drove to the net to beat Theodore
with a low drive inside the right post.
"It's a good feeling when you can make a move work like that,"
Naslund said.
Montreal, which fell to 20-32-5-4, traded veteran defenseman Eric Weinrich -- eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer -- to Boston earlier in the day, receiving defenseman Patrick
Traverse in return.
The Canadiens, who were unable to sign Weinrich to a long-term
deal, are likely to miss the playoffs for a third straight season,
a fate the storied franchise has been able to avoid since 1920-22.
Game notes
The Canucks also had a goal disallowed in the first period
when video replays showed that Todd Bertuzzi stuffed the puck under
the side of the Montreal net as it lifted out of place. Bertuzzi is
second to Naslund with 21 goals. ... The Canadiens are 14-1-3-2
when they score first.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Vancouver Clubhouse
Montreal Clubhouse
RECAPS
Carolina 6
Atlanta 3
Pittsburgh 3
Florida 2
Washington 2
Nashville 1
Vancouver 2
Montreal 1
Detroit 7
Chicago 3
Dallas 6
Minnesota 2
Phoenix 3
Columbus 2
Colorado 8
Boston 2
Anaheim 1
San Jose 0
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