Canadiens erase five-goal deficit to beat Rangers

Michael Ryder scored three times and the Montreal Canadiens staged the biggest comeback in their storied history, rallying from five goals down and beating the New York Rangers 6-5 in a shootout Tuesday night in Montreal.

Saku Koivu beat Henrik Lundqvist with a forehand deke on Montreal’s second shootout attempt and Cristobal Huet stopped Brendan Shanahan, Chris Drury and Jaromir Jagr to the delight of the sold-out Bell Centre crowd of 21,273.

Montreal stormed back from a 5-0 deficit early in the second with five unanswered goals to tie it at 5.

Ryder scored three of four straight even-strength goals by Montreal for his third career hat trick 6:52 into the third as the Canadiens closed to within 5-4.

Bruins 3, Hurricanes 2 (SO): At Raleigh, N.C., David Krejci scored in the third round of the shootout to lift Boston past Carolina.

Phil Kessel also scored in the shootout and Tim Thomas stopped the Hurricanes cold for Boston, which blew a late 2-0 lead by allowing two goals in the final 63 seconds.

Penguins 3, Panthers 2: At Pittsburgh, Ryan Malone scored twice in the final 3:20 as the Penguins erased a two-goal deficit in the third period to defeat Florida.

Predators 5, Oilers 4: At Nashville, Tenn., Scott Nichol and J.P. Dumont each scored a goal and added a pair of assists as the Predators edged Edmonton.

Blues 5, Blackhawks 1: At St. Louis, Brad Boyes’ 32nd goal put the Blues ahead to stay and St. Louis scored three power-play goals for the second straight game in a victory over Chicago.

Canucks 3, Wild 2 (OT): At St. Paul, Minn., Daniel Sedin’s overtime goal lifted Vancouver over Minnesota.

Senators 3, Flyers 2 (SO): At Ottawa, Antoine Vermette had a goal in regulation and another in the shootout as the Senators defeated Philadelphia. Jason Spezza scored the shootout winner, while Chris Kelly had the other regulation goal for the Senators, who ended a three-game winless streak.

Maple Leafs 3, Blue Jackets 1: At Toronto, Vesa Toskala made 26 saves while starting for the 17th time in 18 games as Toronto beat Columbus.

Flames 4, Coyotes 1: At Glendale, Ariz., Dion Phaneuf and Jarome Iginla each scored two goals to lead Calgary to a win over Phoenix.