MONTREAL — Tom Kostopoulos scored 48 seconds into overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night in the opening game of their second-round series.
Kostopoulos put his own rebound past Flyers goalie Martin Biron shortly after a faceoff in Philadelphia’s zone for his third goal of the playoffs.
Alex Kovalev drew Montreal even with 28.6 seconds left in regulation, scoring a power-play goal off a faceoff with goalie Carey Price pulled for an extra attacker. Flyers center Jeff Carter’s stick broke as he lost the faceoff to Saku Koivu, and Kovalev beat Biron with a shot into the top right corner.
Joffrey Lupul scored a power-play goal 19 seconds into the third to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead.
Lupul, who scored Philadelphia’s series-winning goal in overtime Tuesday night in Washington, got his second of the playoffs — after a brief video review — when the puck came out of Price’s glove and hit Lupul’s hand before going into the net off the Flyers forward’s skate.
Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau kept Price on the bench for a sixth attacker as Montreal began a power play in the Flyers’ zone with 1:09 remaining after Philadelphia’s Mike Richards was sent off for kneeing Kovalev.
The strategy ultimately paid off as Kovalev scored his fourth of the playoffs to send the game to overtime.
R.J. Umberger and Jim Dowd scored in the first to give Philadelphia a 2-0 lead.
Andrei Kostitsyn and Kovalev tied it at 2 when they scored in the second for Montreal, which won all four meetings between the teams during the regular season.
Price stopped 30 shots in the first playoff meeting between the teams in 19 years, the fifth Montreal-Philadelphia series overall.
Biron also made 30 saves. Kostitsyn, who failed to score on a penalty shot 6:32 into the second, made the most of a second chance when he took a pass from his younger brother, Sergei, and put a shot over Biron’s right arm for his fourth goal of the playoffs at 9:44.
Kovalev tied it with a short-handed goal at 16:03 that necessitated a lengthy video review.
Philadelphia 2 0 1 0 — 3
Montreal 0 2 1 1 — 4
First period — 1, Philadelphia, Umberger 2 (Jones, Hatcher), 13:15. 2, Philadelphia, Dowd 1 (Downie, Thoresen), 16:49. Penalties — None.
Second period — 3, Montreal, A.Kostitsyn 4 (S.Kostitsyn), 9:44. 4, Montreal, Kovalev 3 (Plekanec), 16:03 (sh). Penalties — Coburn, Phi (hooking), 1:36; Upshall, Phi (unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:32; S.Kostitsyn, Mon (unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:32; Komisarek, Mon (roughing), 14:52; Komisarek, Mon (interference), 18:25.
Third period — 5, Philadelphia, Lupul 2 (Coburn, Richards), 0:19 (pp). 6, Montreal, Kovalev 4 (Koivu), 19:31 (pp). Penalty —Richards, Phi (kneeing), 18:51.
Overtime — 7, Montreal, Kostopoulos 3 (Markov), :48. Penalties — None.
Shots on goal — Philadelphia 10-9-13-1 — 33. Montreal 9-13-9-3 — 34. Missed penalty shot — A.Kostitsyn, Mon, 14:05, second. Power-play opportunities — Philadelphia 1 of 2; Montreal 1 of 2. Goalies — Philadelphia, Biron 4-4 (34 shots-30 saves). Montreal, Price 5-3 (33-30).
Attendance — 21,273 (21,273). T — 2:50.
Referees — Mike Hasenfratz, Don VanMassenhoven. Linesmen — Mike Cvik, Steve Miller.
