Saku Koivu

Pressure, what pressure? The Sabres trail the Eastern Conference final series, 3-2, to Carolina, but Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff did his best yesterday to gain a psychological edge. "The pressure falls on them," Ruff said of the top-seeded Hurricanes. "Oh, you'd hate to lose Game 6 and have to play Game 7. You'd never want to get in that situation because in one game, anything can happen. " Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette wasn't biting. Carolina can advance to the Stanley Cup finals against Edmonton with a win tonight in Game 6 at Buffalo.

Nov. 1, 2007, at MONTREAL Canadiens 5, Flyers 2 Flyers goals: Mike Richards, Scottie Upshall Flyers goals: Mike Richards, Scottie Upshall Canadiens goals: Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev, Tom Kostopoulos, Guillaume Latendresse, Christopher Higgins Flyers goalie: Marty Biron, 36 saves Canadiens goalie: Cristobal Huet, 17 saves Turning point: Kovalev scored on the power play, then Kostopoulos scored shorthanded a little more than...

Chris Drury scored a power-play goal 1:46 into overtime, giving the New York Rangers a 2-1 victory over visiting Pittsburgh last night that kept the Penguins from clinching their first division title in 10 years. The Rangers were given the advantage in the opening minute of the extra session when Sergei Gonchar held Jaromir Jagr as he drove to the net. Pittsburgh is still in prime position to win the Atlantic Division, leading New Jersey by seven points. The Penguins, with 100 points, are two ahead of Montreal in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Donald Audette scored 1 minute, 12 seconds into overtime for the Montreal Canadiens, who got a career-best three goals from Saku Koivu in a 5-4 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins last night. Audette, who ended a 23-game goal-scoring drought in his previous game, beat Pittsburgh goalie Johan Hedberg for the winner. None of the game's nine goals came while the teams were skating five-on-five. Koivu scored twice on the power play and got the Canadiens' first shorthanded goal of the season.

WASHINGTON - If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, right? Well, that's what the Flyers face now. The Flyers, after defeating the Capitals, 3-2, in overtime last night, will take on Montreal, the Eastern Conference's top seed, in the second round beginning tomorrow. The Canadiens needed seven games to swat away a pesky Bruins team that almost made a miraculous comeback from a 3-1 deficit. The Canadiens closed out the first-round series on Monday by thumping the Bruins, 5-0. The Flyers lost all four meetings with Montreal this season by a combined score of 15-6.

Saku Koivu has left the Montreal Canadiens after 13 seasons to join the Anaheim Ducks. The two-time All-Star center, who turns 35 in November, signed a 1-year deal yesterday. Koivu was Montreal's captain for nearly 10 years, tying Jean Beliveau for longest-serving in the team's 100-year history. He had 191 goals, 450 assists and 623 penalty minutes with the Canadiens, the only team Koivu has played for during his NHL career. "Saku Koivu's character and leadership qualities are unquestioned," Ducks general manager Bob Murray said.

Anson Carter's second stint with Washington lasted as long as his first one. After just 19 games with the Capitals since returning in the trade that sent Jaromir Jagr to the New York Rangers, Carter was dealt yesterday to the Los Angeles Kings for forward Jared Aulin. Carter also played 19 games with the Caps in the 1996-97 season before being traded to Boston as part of the deal that brought Adam Oates to Washington. Carter joins Jagr, Peter Bondra, Robert Lang, Michael Nylander and Sergei Gonchar as veterans who were dealt by the Capitals since Jan. 23. In another trade, Matthew Barnaby was traded by the Rangers along with a third-round pick in this year's draft to Colorado for defensemen Chris McAllister and David Liffiton.

The Montreal Canadiens still love New York. Steve Begin scored a shorthanded goal for the visiting Canadiens 1 minute, 14 seconds after Jaromir Jagr tied it for New York in the third period, and Montreal got four third-period goals to beat the Rangers, 4-1, last night and earn a split in the home-and-home series. The Canadiens, who lost, 5-2, Saturday in Montreal, have won six straight in New York - including both meetings this season. "I thought tonight was a solid, patient game and patience paid off," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said.

Before yesterday, Montreal had tried just about everything to end a four-game losing streak. Everything, that is, except give Mathieu Garon a start in goal. So Garon got the start. The losing streak is over. Garon had 25 saves in his first start of the season, and the visiting Canadiens shut down Washington, 2-0. "I think it was really important for us to end that streak," Garon said. " I hadn't played for 3 weeks and I felt like I played last night. I felt really good.

When Buffalo's Curtis Brown stole the puck behind the Montreal goal and launched it toward the Montreal net, he didn't care which of his teammates touched it as long as it led to a goal. No one else got hold of the puck - but the backhand shot made it past Montreal goalie Andy Moog anyway to cap Buffalo's 2-1 victory last night and clinch a playoff spot for the host Sabres. Brown's goal with 4:10 left to play came 44 seconds after Donald Audette scored the game-tying goal.

NEW YORK - Jason Chimera scored 12 minutes, 36 seconds into the second overtime period, and the Washington Capitals completed a stunning three-goal comeback to beat the Rangers, 4-3, Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden and push New York to the brink of elimination. New York scored three times in the second period to take a 3-0 lead and appeared poised to head back to Washington even in the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series for Game 5 on Saturday. But now the top-seeded Capitals can advance to the second round with a win at home.

Rick Nash scored two third-period goals in his return from an injury that sidelined him four games, and the Columbus Blue Jackets overcame a two-goal deficit last night to hand the visiting Minnesota Wild a costly, 4-2 loss. The Wild came into the game in 11th place, six points behind eighth-place Detroit in the Western Conference playoff race, but have now lost two in a row. Nash's game-winning goal came just 27 seconds after Kris Russell tied the game at 2-2. Nash then added an empty-netter in the final minute.

Jaroslav Halak came up with a big effort on a night when the Montreal Canadiens were left short-handed in many ways. Halak made 45 saves, and Tomas Plekanec had three assists as Montreal extended its winning streak to three with a 4-1 victory over the host Ottawa Senators last night. Mike Cammalleri, Marc-Andre Bergeron and Andrei Kostitsyn all scored for the second night in a row, and Scott Gomez added an empty-net goal. Halak made his second start in four games, improving to 6-4. "He was the reason we won the game tonight, for sure," Cammalleri said.

Saku Koivu has left the Montreal Canadiens after 13 seasons to join the Anaheim Ducks. The two-time All-Star center, who turns 35 in November, signed a 1-year deal yesterday. Koivu was Montreal's captain for nearly 10 years, tying Jean Beliveau for longest-serving in the team's 100-year history. He had 191 goals, 450 assists and 623 penalty minutes with the Canadiens, the only team Koivu has played for during his NHL career. "Saku Koivu's character and leadership qualities are unquestioned," Ducks general manager Bob Murray said.

Alex Kovalev signed a 2-year, $10 million deal yesterday with the Ottawa Senators, leaving the rival Montreal Canadiens after parts of five seasons. Kovalev, a 16-season NHL veteran, led Montreal with 26 goals and 65 points last season. He failed to reach a new deal before the free-agent season opened last Wednesday, and Montreal made several moves to spend its money elsewhere. Kovalev earned $4.5 million last season and became an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Earlier yesterday, Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey told Montreal radio station CJAD that Kovalev would not be returning to the team.

Chad LaRose and Rod Brind'Amour scored 28 seconds apart late in the third period last night, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers, 4-2, for their club-record 10th straight home victory. LaRose finished with two goals, and Eric Staal had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, who extended their season-best winning streak to seven while surpassing the nine consecutive home wins they had in 2005-06, when they won the Stanley Cup. They haven't been to the postseason since, but they took another step toward wrapping up a playoff berth, jumping past the idle Flyers and Penguins into fourth place in the East with 93 points.

Evgeni Malkin scored Pittsburgh's first goal and then decided the shootout for the Penguins, who rallied from two goals down in the third period and beat the visiting Florida Panthers, 4-3, last night for their seventh consecutive win. The winning streak is the Penguins' longest since they won eight in a row from Dec. 23, 2007, through Jan. 10, 2008. Kris Letang and Malkin each got the puck past Tomas Vokoun as the Penguins won their second shootout in 3 days, following a 4-3 decision Sunday in Washington.

Michael Nylander scored the pivotal goal in a shootout and the Washington Capitals generated enough firepower to overcome the absence of Alex Ovechkin to beat the visiting Nashville Predators, 4-3, last night. Alexander Semin scored as Washington's second shooter before Ville Koistinen tied it on Nashville's third try at the Caps' Jose Theodore. Nylander then beat Dan Ellis, and Theodore denied Martin Erat. Ovechkin, the NHL's leading scorer and most valuable player last season, left for Russia on Monday to be with his ailing grandfather.

Nov. 1, 2007, at MONTREAL Canadiens 5, Flyers 2 Flyers goals: Mike Richards, Scottie Upshall Flyers goals: Mike Richards, Scottie Upshall Canadiens goals: Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev, Tom Kostopoulos, Guillaume Latendresse, Christopher Higgins Flyers goalie: Marty Biron, 36 saves Canadiens goalie: Cristobal Huet, 17 saves Turning point: Kovalev scored on the power play, then Kostopoulos scored shorthanded a little more than...

FOR 12 STRAIGHT DAYS, the job of Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen had been to focus on shutting down one very specific and talented player. Neutralizing Alex Ovechkin was the key to success for the Flyers in getting past the Washington Capitals and into the Eastern Conference semifinals. The amount of minutes Timonen skated mirrored those of Ovechkin and in the end they paid off, for Timonen and the Flyers, who will face the Canadiens tonight in Montreal in the first game of the second playoff round.