Kostopoulos gives Montreal OT win

Tom Kostopoulos scored 48 seconds into overtime to give the host Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night in the opening game of their second-round series.

Kostopoulos put his own rebound past Martin Biron shortly after a faceoff in Philadelphia’s zone for his third goal of the playoffs.

Alex Kovalev drew Montreal even with 28.6 seconds remaining in regulation, scoring a power-play goal off a faceoff with goalie Carey Price pulled for an extra attacker. Flyers center Jeff Carter’s stick broke as he lost the faceoff to Saku Koivu, and Kovalev beat Biron with a shot into the top right corner.

Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau kept Price on the bench for a sixth attacker as Montreal began a power play in the Flyers’ zone with 1:09 remaining.

The strategy ultimately paid off as Kovalev scored his third of the playoffs to send the game to overtime.

Price stopped 30 shots in the first playoff meeting between the teams in 19 years, the fifth Montreal-Philadelphia series overall.

Biron also made 30 saves.

Red Wings 4, Avalanche 3: At Detroit, Johan Franzen scored two goals and had an assist to help the Red Wings build a three-goal cushion, and Detroit held on to beat Colorado in Game 1 of their second-round series.

Franzen’s second goal early in the second put Detroit ahead 4-1, but Colorado pulled within a goal by the end of the period.

Much was made about the bad blood between the two teams after they matched up five times between 1996-2002 – combining to win five Stanley Cups in the seven-year span – but the game had only the usual hits and scrums seen in NHL playoff games.