NHL roundup: Saturday's action on the ice

Mike Cammalleri and the Montreal Canadiens are tough to beat when the game is tied after regulation.

Cammalleri and Scott Gomez(notes) scored in a shootout to lift the Canadiens to a chippy 5-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night after they squandered a two-goal lead in the third period.

Six of Montreal's seven wins this season have come in overtime or shootouts - including an OT win over the Leafs in the season opener for both teams on Oct. 1 in Toronto.

"Our fans like OT and shootouts I guess," Cammalleri said. "We didn't want to give them those two goals.

"We'd have liked to hold them off, but the big thing was to get the win."

The Canadiens led 4-2 midway through the third, but Alexei Ponikarovsky's(notes) second of the game and a last-minute goal from Tomas Kaberle(notes) tied it with 54 seconds left in regulation.

Both Montreal shooters beat Vesa Toskala(notes) in the shootout. Jaroslav Halak(notes) stopped Lee Stempniak(notes) and Kaberle in Toronto's first shootout of the season.

Kaberle added three assists, giving him 13 points in his last five games, including a five-point night against Anaheim on Oct. 26.

"I could throw out all the cliches, but we still have to find a way to win," Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson said. "Which cliche do you want? We never say die, blah, blah blah? We still need to win."

Elsewhere in the NHL it was: Boston 2 Edmonton 0; Atlanta 3 Ottawa 1; Detroit 3 Calgary 1; Philadelphia 6 Carolina 1; New Jersey 2 Tampa Bay 1 (SO); N.Y. Islanders 5 Buffalo 0; Minnesota 2 Pittsburgh 1; Florida 4 St. Louis 0; Nashville 4 Dallas 2; and Phoenix 3 Anaheim 2 (SO).

At Montreal, wearing their brightly striped vintage jerseys from 1912-13, the Canadiens got goals from Glen Metropolit(notes), Guillaume Latendresse(notes) and Hal Gill(notes) in the second period. Roman Hamrlik(notes) scored in the third.

Stempniak also scored for Toronto (1-7-4), which ended a five-game road trip with a 1-1-3 record.

Montreal (7-7-0) ended a two-game skid.

After a sloppy but uneventful first period, Ponikarovsky knocked in Kaberle's rebound on a power play 1:12 into the second.

But Metropolit, who has eight points in eight games this season, scored 1:15 later.

Latendresse scored on Tomas Plekanec's(notes) rebound at 12:24 and former Leafs defenceman Gill netted his first since joining Montreal in the summer.

Stempniak closed the gap to 3-2 with 4:44 left in the period on a point shot that beat Halak cleanly.

Hamrlik was at the far post to put in Gomez's shot just after a power play ended at 9:50 of the third period. It was the 20th goal allowed by Toskala in four starts this season and 23rd in five appearances.

Ponikarovsky scored his second of the game with 3:28 left.

The Leafs called a timeout with 1 minute remaining and sent out six attackers. Kaberle's point shot went off Jaroslav Spacek's(notes) skate and slid inside the far post to tie it.

"He's doing a great job," Wilson said of Kaberle. "He's picking up points by the bushel on the power play, which has been pretty good."

The Leafs went 2 for 6 on the power play and are 9 for 25 with the advantage in their last five games.

Former Canadiens defenceman Mike Komisarek(notes) nailed Metropolit with an open-ice hit early in the second period, leading to another melee. The crowd booed loudly each time Komisarek hit the ice. He left Montreal to sign as a free agent in Toronto in the summer.

"That was a rivalry game," said Cammalleri, a Toronto native. "There was no love lost.

"There were words exchanged that I can't repeat. There was blood on the ice. There were fights in the seats from what I could see. That's a rivalry game."

There was a scoreboard tribute to former Canadiens great Jacques Plante, who became the first goaltender to wear a mask full-time 50 years ago on Sunday.

Bruins 2 Oilers 0

At Boston, rookie Tuukka Rask(notes) turned aside 19 shots for his second shutout in eight NHL starts, and Vladimir Sobotka(notes) and Blake Wheeler(notes) set each other up for goals to lead the Bruins over Edmonton.

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Thrashers 3 Senators 1

At Ottawa, Ondrej Pavelec(notes) made 50 saves, and Rich Peverley(notes) had a goal and assist for Atlanta, which broke a four-game losing streak by beating the Senators.

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Red Wings 3 Flames 1

At Calgary, Brad Stuart(notes) and Tomas Holmstrom(notes) scored goals 59 seconds apart in the second period to lead Detroit over the Flames.

Goalie Chris Osgood(notes) stopped 20 of 21 shots he faced as the Red Wings (5-4-3) finished up their five-game road trip with a 2-1-2 record. Kirk Maltby(notes) also scored for Detroit.

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Flyers 6 Hurricanes 1

At Philadelphia, Braydon Coburn(notes) scored twice and Scott Hartnell(notes) and Matt Carle(notes) each had a goal and two assists to help the Flyers snap a two-game losing streak and send Carolina to their eighth straight loss.

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Devils 2 Lightning 1 (SO)

At Tampa, Fla., David Clarkson(notes) scored the lone shootout goal in the fourth round of the tiebreaker and New Jersey extended its road winning streak to seven games.

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Islanders 5 Sabres 0

At New York, Martin Biron(notes) earned his 200th NHL win and 26th career shutout, and Jeff Tambellini(notes) scored three goals for his first career hat trick in a win over Buffalo.

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Wild 2 Penguins 1

At Pittsburgh, Niklas Backstrom(notes) made 34 saves and Minnesota won on the road for the first time this season.

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Panthers 4 Blues 0

At St. Louis, Tomas Vokoun(notes) stopped all 34 shots for his 32nd NHL shutout and Nathan Horton(notes) had a goal and an assist as Florida beat the Blues.

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Predators 4 Stars 2

At Nashville, Tenn., Patric Hornqvist(notes) and Kevin Klein(notes) scored goals 1:43 apart midway through the third period to lead the Predators over Dallas.

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Coyotes 3 Ducks 2 (SO)

At Glendale, Ariz., Radim Vrbata(notes) scored in the shootout to give Phoenix a win over Anaheim.

Phoenix goalie Ilya Bryzgalov(notes) stopped Corey Perry(notes), Ryan Getzlaf(notes) and Teemu Selanne(notes) in the tiebreaker to preserve the win. The Coyotes earned their ninth win of October, tying a franchise record.