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Recap: Montreal vs. Atlanta

Sports Network | October 20, 2009

Montreal, QC (Sports Network) - Scott Gomez notched the winner in a shootout as Montreal survived Atlanta, 2-1, at Bell Centre.

Gomez opened the second round by beating Thrashers netminder Ondrej Pavelec with a wrister high to the glove side. After Rich Peverley failed in Atlanta's turn, Brian Gionta closed out the game by eluding a poke check and slipping a backhander into the open net.

Gionta provided the lone score in regulation for the Canadiens, who snapped a five-game losing streak and posted their first victory on home ice this season after dropping two prior contests to Colorado and Ottawa last Thursday and Saturday.

Jaroslav Halak stopped 22 shots for the win.

"That five-game losing stretch was a little disappointing for us," Gionta noted. "We showed flashes of good stuff and kept to the gameplan. Any two points is big because they have a good team there. They're 4-and-1 and rolling, so it's nice to get a win against an offensive-minded team."

Colby Armstrong tallied for the Thrashers, who had won four of their first five games to start the season. Pavelec was strong in defeat with 34 saves.

The Habs got on the board with 2:16 left in the first period as Gionta retrieved a loose puck behind the net, circled around and managed to sneak a wrister through a screen from 15 feet.

Following a scoreless second period and a failed power-play chance early in the third, Atlanta knotted the score at 6:06 as Armstrong snapped a shot home from the left circle.

Atlanta survived a Montreal man advantage late in the extra session thanks to Pavelec. Tomas Plekanec missed a half-open net with just over 30 seconds to play in overtime, then Pavelec made a huge stop on Jaroslav Spacek's slap shot with five ticks remaining.

Roman Hamrlik's backhand try in the waning seconds got past the Thrashers netminder but clanged off the post.

"Every time you step on the ice, you're looking for a win, We got one point tonight," said Pavelec. "It was up and down. They could have won and we could have as well."

Montreal has won five of the last nine meetings and three in a row over Atlanta at Bell...Thrashers forward Ilya Kovalchuk was held off the scoreboard for the second time this season. The Russian forward had posted three multi- goal games already in the season's first month...Both clubs are in action on Thursday as the Canadiens host the Islanders and the Thrashers welcome Washington.