Thrashers lose second straight

MONTREAL - The Montreal Canadiens caught a huge break after squandering a big lead.

Oleg Petrov scored a short-handed goal with 1:35 left as the Canadiens recovered from blowing a three-goal advantage for a 5-3 victory Monday night over the Atlanta Thrashers.

Joe Juneau had three points, including one of Montreal's three first-period goals, as the Canadiens led 3-0 just 9:11 in.

``It should have been an easy game,'' Juneau said. ``Once we had that lead, there was no reason to play that way and try to make it 4, 5, or 6-0 - taking chances. We got lucky.''

Atlanta scored twice in the second, and Patrik Stefan tied the score 4:04 into the third.

``To come back like that, it was huge,'' Stefan said. ``We lost the game, but I think you have to give credit to our team for the comeback.''

The tying goal came just 21 seconds after Montreal's Mike Ribeiro, on a penalty shot, slipped a backhander through goalie Milan Hnilicka's legs, but the shot struck the left post.

Atlanta got a power-play opportunity with 2:58 left in regulation, but Petrov forced a neutral-zone turnover and drove to the net before firing a backhander past Hnilicka at 18:25.

``That was just an absolutely great play by Petrov,'' Thrashers coach Curt Fraser said. ``That's one of the prettiest goals you'll see all year. Unfortunately, it came at a bad time.''

Andreas Dackell scored into an empty net with 2.7 seconds remaining as Montreal won its second in three games.

Montreal moved into a tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference with the New York Rangers, who lost at home to Calgary. Both teams have 63 points, but the Canadiens have played one fewer game.

``That's a game that gives coaches gray hairs,'' Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. ``A loss tonight would have been a disaster, especially with the three-goal lead.''

Gino Odjick scored Montreal's first goal at 2:17, followed by Juneau and Yanic Perreault 24 seconds apart to chase rookie goalie Pasi Nurminen. He was replaced by Hnilicka, who stopped 23 of 24 shots.

``We started off OK for the first two minutes, and then it was mistake after mistake,'' Fraser said. ``It certainly had nothing to do with Pasi. We just gave up some real quality chances.''

Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk scored 8:39 into the second to lead NHL rookies with 29 goals, and assisted on Chris Tamer's goal at 19:02 that made it 3-2.

Notes: It was the third penalty shot against Hnilicka this season. He stopped Anaheim's Matt Cullen on Nov. 4 and allowed a goal to Buffalo's Tim Connolly on Nov. 19. ... Nurminen stopped three of six shots. ... Odjick, Juneau and Perreault each had a goal and an assist in the first. ... Kilger was unsuccessful against Washington's Olaf Kolzig on Oct. 19 in Montreal's only other penalty shot this season.