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Atlanta 4, Montreal 3

MONTREAL, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Marc Savard's power-play goal with 96 seconds left Tuesday night lifted the Atlanta Thrashers to a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

With time winding down in regulation, Savard attempted to thread a pass to Vyacheslav Kozlov at the far post. The pass never made it to Kozlov, deflecting off defenseman Stephane Quintal's skate and past goaltender Jose Theodore.

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Earlier in the third period, Savard's former New York Rangers teammate Niklas Sundstrom had tied the game for Montreal with his second goal in as many games. After rallying from a 3-1 deficit, the Canadiens seemed to have momentum on their side, but could not seize the lead.

Savard had the only goal in Atlanta's 1-0 win against Montreal on Jan. 15.

Dany Heatley, who was the MVP of Sunday's All-Star Game in Sunrise, Fla., assisted on Savard's winning tally. His presence helped to set up Savard's first goal in the second period. Andrei Markov stepped over to double-team Heatley and effectively got the puck away, but Savard was right there to snap a shot past Theodore from the left side.

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A defensive gaffe by the Canadiens set up the Thrashers' third goal. Patrice Brisebois could not clear the puck out of the Montreal zone and Jeff Snyder picked up the puck along the side boards. Snyder made a nice cross-ice pass to Jeff Cowan, who scored his first goal of the season to provide Atlanta with a two-goal advantage.

Brad Tapper also scored for Atlanta, which has won six of nine games under new coach Bob Hartley.

The Canadiens have lost back-to-back games after a five-game unbeaten streak (3


2). Montreal did get a goal from Andreas Dackell, who had not scored since Dec. 7.

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