MONTREAL: Benoit Pouliot scored on Montreal's fifth shootout attempt to give the Canadiens a 2-1 win over a Pittsburgh Penguins team missing injured captain Sidney Crosby in the NHL Thursday. Carey Price, who made 31 saves through overtime, was unpassable in the shootout. He denied four Penguins before stopping Chris Kunitz on Pittsburgh's final attempt. Pouliot deked Brent Johnson and let the puck slide into the right side of the net as Montreal won in its first shootout of the season. He also scored the tying goal in the second period. Arron Asham scored in the first period for Pittsburgh. Crosby, who leads the NHL with 32 goals and 66 points, missed his first game of the season because of an undisclosed upper body injury. Coyotes 2, Avalanche 0: In Denver, back-up goalie Jason LaBarbera made 34 saves for his second shutout in three starts as Phoenix beat Colorado. The Coyotes were without goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, who missed the game because of a family medical issue. LaBarbera filled in and clamped down on the NHL's fourth-highest scoring team. Taylor Pyatt scored both Phoenix goals, the second an empty-netter. Predators 5, Kings 2: In Los Angeles, Nashville fought back to beat Los Angeles and notch a fourth straight win. Patric Hornqvist scored two goals, Colin Wilson and Sergei Kostitsyn both had a goal and two assists, and Marek Svatos scored his first goal for the Predators. Los Angeles slid to its season-worst fifth straight loss despite second-period goals to rookie Kyle Clifford and Jarret Stoll. Sabres 3, Sharks 0: In San Jose, coach Lindy Ruff brought up his 500th career victory as Buffalo beat San Jose. Ruff became the 16th NHL coach with 500 wins and joined Montreal's Toe Blake as the only ones in the club who got all their wins with one team. Ruff reached the milestone in convincing fashion as Buffalo got goals from Luke Adam and Jochen Hecht in the first period and then stellar goaltending from Ryan Miller. Elsewhere it was: Wild 3, Bruins 1; Maple Leafs 6, Blues 5, SO; Flyers 4, Devils 2; Oilers 2, Islanders 1.
