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Monday, Dec. 27 2:00pm ET
Brisebois: Tying goal, 2 assists | |||||
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BOX SCORE
KANATA, Ontario (AP) -- Although the Montreal Canadiens have been decimated by injuries this season, they are still giving some of the NHL's top teams a hard time. Patrice Brisebois scored with 3:45 remaining in the third period and assisted on two goals, helping the Canadiens to a 4-4 tie against the Ottawa Senators on Monday. "Right now, we're fighting for our playoff lives," said Canadiens goalie Jose Theodore, who made 33 saves. "Those veterans have a way of fighting through in the third," said Montreal coach Alain Vigneault, referring to Brisebois and Benoit Brunet. Brunet whacked a bouncing puck past Ottawa goalie Ron Tugnutt on a power play 7:30 into the final period to narrow the deficit to 4-3, earning his 200th and 201st NHL points in the contest. The Canadiens have lost only two of their last nine road games. "We really believed we could score that tying goal," Brisebois said. "Once you score that goal, you never know what can happen." The Canadiens have a league-leading 235 man-games lost to injury involving 20 players this season. They added seven Monday: Vladimir Malakhov (knee); Saku Koivu (shoulder); Brian Savage (vertebrae); Trevor Linden (ankle); Oleg Petrov (knee); Jim Cummins (shoulder), and Arron Asham (flu). "It's been frustrating for us all," said Martin Rucinsky, who had two assists. "Those guys are key guys. That's going to hurt any team." Shawn McEachern, with a goal and two assists, rookie Mike Fisher, captain Daniel Alfredsson and defenseman Igor Kravchuk, with a power-play goal, scored for the Senators. Ottawa's Vinnie Prospal had three assists. The Senators remained unbeaten in Northeast Division play (5-0-2) and have lost only one of eight games (3-1-4). "We figured it would be a low-scoring game," said McEachern, who had a goal and two assists for Ottawa. "We just tightened up defensively. We have to play better defense." Former Senator Sergei Zholtok scored twice for the Canadiens. Zholtok opened the scoring at 9:42, firing Rucinsky's rebound between Tugnutt's pads. Rookie Mike Fisher scored 1:15 later, redirecting Jason York's point shot for his third goal of the season. "They're a hard-working team and we weren't taking anything for granted," Fisher said. "We had a couple of breakdowns in the third period and they really jumped on them." Montreal took a 2-1 lead 17 seconds into the second period, when a drive by Zholtok eluded Tugnutt's glove. Alfredsson tied the score at 13:40. McEachern followed that with a shot from the slot 2:22 later. Kravchuk scored from the left faceoff circle with 1:06 left in the period. The Senators have lost only five of their last 114 games -- 94-5-15, including 11-1-3 this season -- when leading after two periods. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Montreal Clubhouse Ottawa Clubhouse RECAPS Philadelphia 5 Calgary 1
Montreal 4
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