LATE KOVALCHUK GOALS DEFLATE DUCKS WITH 4-3 LOSS

It took until the end of the third period, but the Vancouver Canucks pulled through with a little help from their friend.  Newly acquired superstar Ilya Kovalchuk scored twice late in the game to tie it up and to finally put the Canucks on top for good.
For the first period, the Ducks could not get the puck out of their zone.  The Canucks had countless scoring chances but could not put the puck in the net.  It wouldn't be until Ducks center Saku Koivu scored that the Ducks got a shot on net.

Coming up the ice, there were three players before Koivu who tried to shoot the puck on net.  Once the first shot was blocked, the puck careened to the next shooter, and so on until Koivu put it home in one fascinating shooting exhibition.

That lead would not hold for long as the Canucks would score just six minutes later, ending the first period with a tie game.  The same occured in the second period, as both teams put up a powerplay goal, with Koivu picking up his second goal of the game.

The Ducks would go up 3-2 in the third on a Steve Eminger goal that got past a screened Roberto Luongo.  Not to be outdone, Ilya Kovalchuk took the Canucks on his back and marched on to victory.

With around eight minutes left in the game and trailing 3-2, Kovalchuk danced around with the puck to the right of Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller.  Fooling the last defender to try and stop him, Kovalchuk blasted a wrister past Hiller to tie the game.



Not done with his superstar performance, Kovalchuk would take a pass from Canuck center Henrik Sedin to give the Canucks the lead and win.  Kovalchuk broke in on a mini two-on-one with Sedin where he accepted a pass, protected the puck from an Anaheim defender, and flung a backhander past Hiller to seal the game.



3 Stars
1. Kovalchuk - van (2g)
2. Koivu - ana (2g)
3. Sedin - van (2a)

Anaheim Ducks (away)
Goals: Koivu 2 (1pp), Eminger
Assists: Ryan, Whitney, Wisniewski, Getzlaf, Artyukhin
PP - 1/2
PK - 2/3

Montreal Canadiens (home)
Goals: Kovalchuk 2, Burrows (pp), Johnson
Assists: Edler 2, Mitchel, Samuelsson, H. Sedin 2 (1pp), Raymond
PP - 1/3
PK - 1/2