Canadiens Earn Second Straight Win

For Saku Koivu, it was a perfect game.

With a delegation of 50 friends and relatives from Finland in the crowd, Koivu scored his first two NHL goals, sending the Montreal Canadiens to a 6-3 victory over the previously unbeaten Los Angeles Kings Monday night in Montreal.

“When the people stood up and cheered, I couldn’t find words for it,” said Koivu, the 20-year-old center, who had been held without a point in his first six games. “It was unbelievable.”

Among those in the crowd of 16,811 were his father Jukka, his mother Tuire and his 12-year-old brother Mikko, as well as Curt Lindstrom, who coached Koivu and Finland to its first world championship last spring.

They heard a jubilant Forum crowd chant Sa-Ku, Sa-Ku as the rookie tried in vain for a third goal late in the game.

“I was happy my parents were here for my first goal,” Koivu said. “They watched me play for 15 years and helped me so much all along.”

Pierre Turgeon also had two goals while Patrice Brisebois and Benoit Brunet, with an end-to-end short-handed effort, added goals for Montreal (2-5).

The Canadiens won for the second straight time since Mario Tremblay replaced Jacques Demers as coach Saturday.

Yanic Perreault scored twice and Tony Granato added another, all in the third period, for the Kings (4-1-3), who lost for the first time under their rookie coach, Larry Robinson.

Robinson, a standout defensemen for 17 seasons in Montreal, was honored in a pregame ceremony for his recent induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The Canadiens, who outshot the Kings 38-35, are three games into a five-game road trip

“The guys were tired,” Robinson said. “We played a physical game in Washington and another in Pittsburgh. You can only go to the well so many times.”

It was the last visit for Los Angeles and star center Wayne Gretzky to the 71-year-old Forum. The Canadiens begin play in a new building in March.

Canadiens 6, Kings 3

Los Angeles 0 0 3 - 3 Montreal 2 2 2 - 6

First Period-1, Montreal, Turgeon 3 (Quintal, Recchi), 4:04. 2, Montreal, Koivu 1 (Petrov, Bure), 18:15.

Second Period-3, Montreal, Brisebois 1 (Savage, Recchi), 6:31 (pp). 4, Montreal, Brunet 1, 7:43 (sh).

Third Period-5, Los Angeles, Perreault 5 (Granato, Petit), 2:13. 6, Los Angeles, Granato 4 (Kurri), 4:19. 7, Montreal, Koivu 2 (Damphousse, Brunet), 8:32 (pp). 8, Montreal, Turgeon 4 (Quintal, Popovic), 10:39 (pp). 9, Los Angeles, Perreault 6 (O’Donnell, Granato), 11:10 (sh).

Shots on goal-Los Angeles 14-10-11-35. Montreal 16-9-13-38. Power-play Opportunities-Los Angeles 0 of 6; Montreal 3 of 8. Goalies-Los Angeles, Dafoe 3-1-3 (38 shots-32 saves). Montreal, Roy 2-5-0 (35-32). A-16,811 (16,259).

Avalanche 3, Mighty Ducks 1

Denver

Colorado scored two power-play goals against one of the league’s best penalty-killing teams, leading the Avalanche past Anaheim.

Colorado, unbeaten at home (4-0-1), scored the first three goals of the game and won back-to-back games for the first time this season.

After Adam Deadmarsh beat goalie Guy Hebert on a rebound in front of the net at 5:37, Anaheim - second in the league in penalty killing (39 of 42) coming into the game - surrendered consecutive power-play goals.

Mike Ricci scored 5 seconds into the first power play at 9:56, and Valeri Kamensky added a goal on Scott Young’s short pass from behind the net at 14:47.

The Mighty Ducks brought in goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov to start the second period and cut the lead to 3-1 on Mike Sillinger’s backhander less than 2 minutes later.

But Anaheim continued to struggle with a man advantage, failing to convert all five of its power-play chances. The Ducks are 5 for 49 with an extra skater this season and 0 for 16 in three games against Colorado.

Avalanche goalie Stephane Fiset, who hasn’t allowed more than three goals in a game this year, stopped 21 shots to earn his fourth win. Shtalenkov stopped all 12 shots he faced.

Anaheim 0 1 0 - 1 Colorado 3 0 0 - 3

First Period-1, Colorado, Deadmarsh 4 (Kamensky), 5:37. 2, Colorado, Ricci 1 (Lefebrve), 9:56 (pp). 3, Colorado, Kamensky 3 (Young, Slaney), 14:47 (pp).

Second Period-4, Anaheim, Sillinger 2 (York, Lambert), 1:17.

Third Period-None.

Shots on goal-Anaheim 9-6-7-22. Colorado 15-6-6-27. Power-play Opportunities-Anaheim 0 of 5; Colorado 2 of 3. Goalies-Anaheim, Hebert 1-5-0 (15 shots-12 saves), Shtalenkov (0:00 second, 12-12). Colorado, Fiset 4-2-1 (22-21). A-16,061 (16,061).