Montreal, QC (Sports Network) - Kyle Wellwood scored the winning goal in the
seventh round of a shootout, and Tomas Kaberle tallied three goals and one
assist, as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated Montreal, 5-4.
Wellwood's shifty fake caused Montreal's David Aebischer to commit, and he
slid the puck around the stretched out pad of the goaltender. Alexander
Perezhogin missed on the final opportunity against Toronto's Jean-Sebasiten
Aubin to give the Leafs the victory.
"I thought we deserved the two points," Wellwood. "Everyone had a good game.
We outplayed them, which was definitely encouraging. Despite 50 shots, we just
couldn't score on Aebischer in regulation."
The hat trick was the first of Kaberle's career, helping the Maple Leafs end a
three-game skid.
"I never scored a hat trick. I'm pretty happy about it," Kaberle said.
"However, it's about the team coming together since the last three games. It's
better to play on the road. This is a big building and it's good to get two
points and get it done."
Montreal's Sheldon Souray scored with 3:44 remaining in regulation, but the
Canadiens lost for the second time in three games.
"We tried throwing more pucks at net in the third and were fortunate to get a
couple to tie the game," Souray said. "It's frustrating, but it's pretty
positive because we played a pretty crappy game and came back in the third to
tie it."
Aubin finished with 18 saves and Alexei Ponikarovsky netted the Leafs only
other regulation goal.
In the shootout, Kaberle skated first and scored. Montreal then countered with
Sergei Samsonov, who put a shot between the pads of Aubin.
Aebischer then stopped Mats Sundin, Darcy Tucker, Alex Steen and Ponikarovsky
before allowing the game winner. In the meantime, Aubin came up with saves on
Alexei Kovolev, Michael Ryder, Saku Koivu and Christopher Higgins. Mark Streit
also missed the net for the Canadiens.
Aebischer stopped 47-of-51 shots in the loss. Samsonov finished with two goals
and Perezhogin had a goal and an assist.
The dramatic shootout came on the heels of Montreal's third period comeback,
as the Canadiens tallied two goals less than three minutes apart.
The Leafs drew first blood just 1:44 in. Ponikarovsky used a wrist shot
to slip the puck past Aebischer for the first score. The goal, which came on
the power play, was the left winger's fourth of the season.
Just over three minutes later, Kaberle notched his first of the season. Tucker
was mixed up in a one-on-three in front of the net, but somehow managed
to get the puck back to the point, where Kaberle unleashed a slap shot to give
Toronto a 2-0 lead.
Montreal answered with 12:21 left in the first stanza, as Samsonov tipped the
puck past Aubin to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Toronto finished out an early offensive flurry, as Kaberle tallied his second
goal of period. With 42.8 seconds left on the clock, he once again took a pass
from Tucker and found the twine with a backhand shot to make it 3-1.
Perezhogin tallied his first goal of the year, taking a pass from Mike
Komisarek and weaving right through Leafs' defenders Ian White and Hal Gill to
make it a 3-2 game with 9:21 remaining.
Just over a minute later, Kaberle collected the hat trick. After a kick-save
by Aebischer, the puck somehow ricocheted back, was poked past the netminder,
and barely trickled over the line. The play was reviewed, but the call stood,
as Toronto reclaimed a two-goal lead.
The third period belonged to the Canadians.
Samsonov made it 4-3, sending a shot past a sprawling Aubin with 6:16
remaining.
Souray's game-tying goal, a slapshot from the left circle, sent the home crowd
into a frenzy. Both teams then had several chances to end it before the
conclusion of regulation, but the goaltenders were solid between the pipes.
