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TORONTO (Ticker) -- Oleg Petrov and Richard Zednik each scored twice and defenseman Andrei Markovadded a goal and two assist to lead he Montreal Canadiens to their first win at the Air Canada Centre, 5-2 over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Petrov's power-play goal 61 seconds into the third perbroke a tie and propelled the Canans to ther first road win over the ple Leafs since December 26, 1998. ey had ben 0-8-1 in the last nine tps to Toronto. "It's been way, woverdue,"said Montreal's Jeff Hackett, who stopped 30 shots. "It's a tough place to play. It's been tough to come in here and get points." "It's been a few years," added Canadiens captain Saku Koivu. With Leafs captain Mats Sundin in the penalty box for interference, Montreal defenseman Patrice Brisebois had the puck at the top of the left faceoff circle and zipped a cross-ice pass. Petrov had trouble controlling it in the right circle but finally lifted a wrist shot over sliding goaltender Ed Belfour for his third goal of the season. "I'm just happy to use my stick and get open space," Petrov said. "We played a good defensive game and got lots of finish offensively." Zednik doubled Montreal's lead at the five-minute mark before Markov scored into an empty net. Hackett remained unbeaten at 3-0-2 and helped stretch the Canadiens' unbeaten run to four games (2-0-2). "This weekend, we played pretty well," he said. "But we've struggled a bit the last couple of weeks. We're only one game above .500." Defenseman Bryan McCabe scored a power-play goal and set up another for Toronto, which fell to 1-4-1 on a seven-game homestand that concludes Tuesday against Tampa Bay. "We're just a little fragile," Sundin said. "Our confidence is not where it's supposed to be and we're not playing very well." The Maple Leafs' frustrations boiled over in the third period, when defenseman Wade Belak leveled Zednik and drew a double-minor. "Obviously, there is frustration, and it showed up late in the game," Sundin said. "Guys are very competitive and we've played well the last few years. We certainly don't like to lose." Toronto had a 9-5 edge in shots during a scoreless first period, then set off a second-period flurry on Mikael Renberg's power-play goal at 1:40. Zednik answered 18 seconds later, chipping a rebound over the right pad of Belfour. Petrov put Montreal in front at 2:10 when he broke down the right side on a 2-on-1 and banked a backhander off Belak and past Belfour. But McCabe tied it just over three minutes later, setting the stage for Petrov's heroics. "It's not good," McCabe said. "We gave them the game in the third again. Somehow, we've got to turn the corner." |
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