Music: {allcanada} Wisniewski scores in OT for Canadiens

Friday, December 31, 2010

{allcanada} Wisniewski scores in OT for Canadiens

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SUNRISE, Fla. (AP)—Montreal newcomer James Wisniewski (notes) scored his second goal of the game 3:41 into overtime to give the Canadiens a 3-2 comeback victory over the Florida Panthers on Friday.

Wisniewski, acquired from the New York Islanders on Tuesday, scored the winner off a rebound of Michael Cammalleri's (notes) shot. The defenseman had a power-play goal in the second period.

Brian Gionta (notes) also scored and Alex Auld (notes) stopped 20 shots to help the Canadiens, coming off a 4-1 loss at Tampa Bay on Thursday night, overcome a 2-0 deficit to finish 2-5 on their seven-game trip.

Stephen Weiss (notes) and Dmitry Kulikov (notes) scored for Florida in a 1:45 span early in the second period. Tomas Vokoun (notes) made 45 saves for the Panthers.

Weiss opened the scoring 28 seconds into the second with his 11th goal. He put in a rebound from Dennis Wideman's (notes) shot that Auld was unable to control.

Kulikov scored his third goal at 2:13 when he wristed a shot from the point. Evgeny Dadonov (notes) nearly redirected the puck, which got past Auld thanks to traffic in front of the net.

Wisniewski and Gionta tied it with power-play goals midway through the second period.

Wisniewski scored at 10:59, his first goal with first with Montreal At 12:54, Gionta redirected Chris Gomez's feed past Vokoun. It was Gionta's 13th goal.

NOTES: The Canadiens traded C Maim Lapierre to Anaheim on Friday for D Brett Festerling (notes) and a fifth-round pick in 2012. … Florida placed C Steve Reinprecht on waivers. … With a large contingent of Canadiens fans in attendance, the crowd noise made it seem like a Montreal home game.