LAST NIGHT IN THE NHL
PANTHERS at HABS:
Saku Koivu scored his second goal of the game at 4: 56 of overtime as the Montreal Canadiens squandered a three- goal third- period lead, but came back to beat the Florida Panthers 4- 3 at the Bell Centre.
Canadiens defenceman Sheldon Souray flipped the puck in the air from his own end and, after the puck had crossed three lines, Koivu got a hold of it, fought off Mike Van Ryn and shovelled the puck in for his seventh goal of the season.
Richard Zednik and Steve Begin also scored for the Canadiens ( 13- 3- 3). Gregory Campbell, Olli Jokinen and Stephen Weiss scored for the Panthers. DEVILS at SABRES:
Chris Drury had a goal and assist in a 4- 1 win over New Jersey, helping Buffalo snap an 11- game winless streak against the Devils.
J. P. Dumont also had a goal and assist, while defenceman Brian Campbell and Daniel Briere also scored. Martin Biron stopped 21 shots for the Sabres, who had gone 0- 8- 3 against the Devils since a 2- 1 win at Buffalo on Jan. 12, 2002. CANES at SENATORS:
Martin Gerber made 35 saves to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 2- 1 win over the Ottawa Senators. Ray Whitney and Mike Commodore scored second-period goals for the Hurricanes (133- 1), who have won nine of their last 10 games. Dominik Hasek made 17 saves while Daniel Alfredsson scored the lone goal for the Senators ( 13- 3- 0), picking up his 600th NHL career point. LIGHTNING at CAPS:
Rookie Alexander Ovechkin forced overtime by scoring with 1: 15 left, then got the only goal in a shootout to rally the Washington Capitals past the Tampa Bay Lightning 4- 3. The Capitals trailed by two goals with 11 minutes left and 3- 2 late in regulation until Ovechkin took a lead pass from Jeff Halpern and skated into the Tampa Bay zone against two defensemen. He cut to his left and, despite being pressured by Cory Sarich, pushed a backhander past Sean Burke to tie it. KINGS at PREDATORS:
The Los Angeles Kings had their sevengame unbeaten streak against Nashville snapped last night dropping a 3- 2 decision to the Predators. The Kings are 16- 6- 4 all- time against the Predators.
Paul Kariya led the way for Nashville with a goal and an assist. Kimmo Timonen and Adam Hall also score for Nashville. Eric Belanger and Jeff Cowan replied for the Kings.