MONTREAL (AP) -Michael Ryder and Alex Kovalev each scored twice and the Montreal Canadiens staged the biggest comeback in their storied history, rallying from five goals down to beat the New York Rangers 6-5 in a shootout Tuesday night.
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.
Ryder scored the first two of four straight even-strength goals by Montreal as the Canadiens pulled within one.
Kovalev, who scored Montreal’s third goal 9 seconds before Mark Streit scored, rolled onto his back amid a wild ovation after he tied it with his team-leading 29th goal at 15:38.
Shanahan scored twice to reach 20 goals for the 19th straight season and Jagr had four assists to help stake the Rangers to their big lead.
Brandon Dubinsky and Sean Avery scored goals 14 seconds apart in the first, and Drury scored his 20th goal 28 seconds after Shanahan’s second goal of the game to give New York a five-goal lead 5:03 into the second.
Canucks 3, Wild 2, OT
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Daniel Sedin’s overtime goal lifted Vancouver over Minnesota.
Sedin took a drop pass from his brother Henrik, and snapped a wrist shot past Minnesota goaltender Nicklas Backstrom, giving the Canucks a key extra point in the Northwest Division race.
Division-leading Minnesota still holds a five-point advantage on the Canucks.
Vancouver trailed 2-1 in the third period before Markus Naslund tied the game on a power-play goal, with assists from both Sedin brothers.
Penguins 3, Panthers 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Ryan Malone scored twice in the final 3:20 as Pittsburgh erased a two-goal deficit in the third period for a win over Florida.
Colby Armstrong also scored and Evgeni Malkin had two assists to take over the NHL’s scoring lead for the Penguins, who tied idle New Jersey for the Atlantic Division lead.
David Booth and Brett McLean each scored for the Panthers, who have lost four of their past five.
Bruins 3, Hurricanes 2, SO
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – 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. Krejci’s shootout clincher came when he beat Cam Ward with a wrist shot to his glove side.
Marc Savard had a goal and an assist and Zdeno Chara scored for Boston.
Maple Leafs 3, Blue Jackets 1
TORONTO (AP) – Vesa Toskala made 26 saves while starting for the 17th time in 18 games as Toronto beat Columbus.
Carlo Colaiacovo, Nik Antropov and Chad Kilger scored for Toronto, which beat a team on the edge of the playoff picture for a second straight game.
Nikolai Zherdev had the only goal for the Blue Jackets.
Senators 3, Flyers 2, SO
OTTAWA (AP) – Antoine Vermette had a goal in regulation and another in the shootout as Ottawa defeated struggling 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.
Kimmo Timonen and Scottie Upshall scored for the Flyers, winless in eight straight.
Blues 5, Blackhawks 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Brad Boyes’ 32nd goal put St. Louis ahead to stay and Blues scored three power-play goals for the second straight game in a victory over Chicago.
Manny Legace made 19 saves in his 17th straight appearance for the Blues, who are on a 4-0-1 run that has put them back into playoff contention.
Predators 5, Oilers 4
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Scott Nichol and J.P. Dumont each scored a goal and added a pair of assists as Nashville edged Edmonton.
Dumont scored the winner at 18:05 of the third period when he skated around the net and backhanded a shot past Mathieu Garon. Alexander Radulov, Jordin Tootoo and Jason Arnott also scored for the Predators, who have won four of their past six.
Flames 4, Coyotes 1
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – Dion Phaneuf and Jarome Iginla each scored two goals to lead Calgary over Phoenix.
This was Phaneuf’s second two-goal game of the season. The other also came against Phoenix on Feb. 5 in Calgary. The All-Star defenseman has 13 goals on the season.
Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 24 shots for his 30th win of the season. Only Martin Brodeur of the Devils and the Sharks’ Evgeni Nabokov have more wins.
Derek Morris scored for Phoenix.
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