Habs do it in OT

NHL teams

The Montreal Canadiens' haven't won a playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup in 1993, but Benoit Brunet's goal in 18:43 of overtime against the Pittsburgh Penguins has given them a great start in the 1998 playoffs.

The Penguins rallied in the third period and scored to tie the game with 1:38 remaining. Both teams had great chances to win the game in overtime. Pittsburgh was even awarded a penaltyshot, a rarity in overtime playoff hockey, but Alexander Morozov's shot clanged off the goalpost.

In the other game, the St. Louis Blues showed why they were the highest scoring team in regular season by blowing the Los Angeles Kings away, 8-3. It was Los Angeles' first playoff game since losing the Stanley Cup finals to Montreal in 1993.

Geoff Courtnall had a club record six points in the game with his goal and five assists.

"The game wasn't very easy, but the goals were easy. We got a lot of lucky bounces." Courtnall said.

Los Angeles failed to take advantage of their bigger size and physical style of play that propelled them to the playoffs with the fifth-best record in the Western Conference.

"They beat us in every phase of the game," Kings defenseman Rob Blake said. "We said we were going to shut the down in the neutral zone, we didn't do that. We said we were going to be disciplined, and we didn't do that. Everything we said we wanted to do, we never did."