Colby Armstrong's goal late in the third
period and 34 saves from Ondrej Pavelec staked Atlanta to a 5-4 victory over
Montreal at Bell Centre.
Rich Peverley recorded a goal and two assists for the Thrashers, who have won
two in a row, both on the road, since losing four straight.
Bryan Little added a goal and one helper, while Pavel Kubina notched his first
goal of the season for Atlanta.
"It's a crazy game, a lot of chances both ways. That's good for the
fans but I don't think either coach sees it that way," said Peverley of the
frenetic nature of the contest. "I think every time they scored, we seemed to
come back right away and have a good shift. There was a lot of character
there."
Brian Gionta scored twice with Mike Cammalleri and Tomas Plekanec tallying
once for the Canadiens, whose rally from a 3-1 deficit fell short for a third
loss in four games.
Carey Price allowed all five goals on just 30 shots.
Cammalleri's unassisted goal inside the final minute of the second period made
it a 3-2 contest, then Gionta knotted the score at the 1:26 mark of the third.
Kubina, though, converted a pass at the side of the net from Nik Antropov at
4:10 and the Thrashers once again led thanks to a power play.
"We battled hard to get back into it, but an untimely goal there wrecked the
momentum," said Gionta. "We had to find a way to stop them, and we weren't
able to do it. There were too many back-door plays and that's because of
defensive breakdowns. We're missing our assignments."
Plekanec tied the game with 7:20 left in regulation, but Armstrong responded
only 34 seconds later to put the visitors on top again.
Evander Kane carried down the right wing but lost control at the goal line.
Marty Reasoner swooped in from behind the play and whipped a pass across to
Armstrong for the easy tap-in and 5-4 advantage.
Pavelec withstood a half-dozen scoring chances the rest of the way, including
a pair in the final minute with Montreal's extra attacker.
"They drive to the net very hard, and play great hockey around the net,
pushing to the crease for rebounds," Pavelec admitted. "It was important
tonight that my defense was big around me and cleared pucks out of the way."
After multiple close calls at either end of the ice in the first period,
Atlanta notched the game's first goal with 2:26 to play, when Peverley's
attempted pass to the slot deflected off Little's skate and through Price.
Peverley slammed home a shot from the slot off a Todd White dish with 13
seconds left in the period for a 2-0 game.
Gionta's blast from the left circle brought the Habs within a goal less than
three minutes into the second period, but Mark Popovic picked up his first
career tally at 7:30.
Game Notes
Atlanta recorded its first victory in Montreal since October 30, 2007, 3-2 in
a shootout...The Thrashers' last regulation win at Bell came with a 4-1 result
on February 17, 2004...Both clubs are back in action on Thursday with Atlanta
hosting Columbus and Montreal traveling to Boston.
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