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Wednesday, Mar. 29 7:30pm ET
Zholtok delivers key goal for Habs | |||||
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MONTREAL (AP) -- Battered and bruised, the Montreal Canadiens are still in the hunt for the NHL playoffs. Sergei Zholtok scored the winning goal with 15 seconds left Wednesday night, lifting the injury-plagued Canadiens to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins and back into eighth place in the Eastern Conference. "I had a pretty good feeling about the shot," said Zholtok, who beat Rob Tallas from just inside the blue line. "I tried to let it go through a screen. There was a defenseman right in front of me and fortunately the puck went through him." Zholtok, who added an assist, scored his team-leading 25th goal and seventh game-winner when his wrist shot beat Tallas. "Ten more shots like that one, and I would probably stop them," said Tallas, when asked about Zholtok's goal. "I didn't even know it was in the net. It's like the puck had eyes." Benoit Brunet also had a goal and an assist for Montreal, which scored three straight times after falling behind 2-0 in the first period. The Canadiens, with several key injuries, lead the league in man-games lost to injury. Montreal has 78 points, one better than Buffalo and two more than Carolina. The Sabres, with six games left, have a game in hand on both teams in the race for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. "We've got five games left and I don't think it's going to be any different than what it was tonight," said Zholtok, whose team has played a league-high 38 one-goal games. "I don't think it's been anything different for us in a long time." Zholtok, who had never scored more than 12 goals in five seasons, drew praise from coach Alain Vigneault. "Without a doubt, Sergei is one of the reasons why we are where we are today, not only because of what he brings on the ice, but what he brings to the room," Vigneault said. Sheldon Souray and Francis Bouillon also scored for the Canadiens, who got two assists each from Oleg Petrov and Patrice Brisebois. Kyle McLaren's goal midway in the third tied it 3-3 before Zholtok's heroics. Mike Knuble and Eric Nickulas also scored for Boston, and Joe Thornton had two assists. Knuble opened the scoring midway through the first after P.J. Axelsson's pass from behind the net. Nickulas made it 2-0 less than three minutes later, but Montreal scored twice in the second. Brunet poked in a rebound with Montreal on a power play at 8:05 before Souray's wrist shot beat a screened Tallas at 16:51. Bouillon's power-play goal at 5:43, which deflected off Boston defenseman Brandon Smith, gave the Canadiens a brief lead. McLaren scored two minutes later. Montreal goalie Jeff Hackett made 21 saves, including one on Brian Rolston's breakaway late in the third. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Boston Clubhouse Montreal Clubhouse RECAPS Dallas 4 Florida 1
Montreal 4 AUDIO/VIDEO   Eric Nickulas beats Habs' goalie Jeff Hackett.avi: 648 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1   | |||||