Montreal wins again

A couple of fluke goals, with plenty of hard skating and swagger in between. The Carolina Hurricanes finally looked like the team that raced to the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.

It still wasn’t enough to beat Montreal.

“We stuck with the same plan; we kept believing,” Canadiens center Mike Ribeiro said. “It was a great game to watch, I’m sure, for everyone.”

Well, maybe in his locker room.

Michael Ryder scored 2:32 into the second overtime after Carolina rallied from three goals down to take the lead, and Montreal beat the Hurricanes 6-5 Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Game 3 is Wednesday night in Montreal.

Chris Higgins chased down the puck behind the net, then centered it to Ryder, who quickly ended the game with a slap shot.

“I just shot it, and it went in the five-hole,” Ryder said.

Alex Kovalev and Richard Zednik scored 36 seconds apart in the third period to give Montreal a 5-4 lead, but Cory Stillman forced the extra periods with a goal with 90 seconds left in regulation. With goalie Cam Ward on the bench in favor of an extra skater, Bret Hedican sent a pass across the ice to Stillman, who sent a one-timer in off the right post.

Ryder finished with two goals, and he, Jan Bulis and Radek Bonk all scored in the first period to give Montreal that commanding lead, forcing Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette to bench goalie Martin Gerber. Gerber has allowed nine goals on 34 shots in the two games.

Devils 4, Rangers 1: John Madden has always been at his best when the New Jersey Devils are short-handed.

The New York Rangers only wish they could say the same.

Madden tied an NHL playoff record with two man-down goals as part of his first postseason hat trick and led New Jersey to victory over visiting New York, which played without Jaromir Jagr, defenseman Darius Kasparaitis and goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

The Devils won the first two games of the first-round, best-of-7 matchup on home ice and will carry a 2-0 advantage into Game 3 at New York on Wednesday.

Jagr, the NHL’s second-leading scorer, was forced to miss his first game of the season because of a shoulder injury sustained in New York’s opening loss Saturday. The Rangers also were missing Kasparaitis, who aggravated a groin injury during the pregame skate.

Avalanche 5, Stars 4 (OT): Joe Sakic scored 4:36 into overtime to give Colorado a victory over host Dallas for a 2-0 advantage in the first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Sakic tipped John-Michael Liles’ slap shot from the point past goalie Marty Turco seconds after Dallas’ Antti Miettinen hit the post at the other end.

Game 3 of the best-of-7 series is Wednesday night in Denver.

After blowing a 3-0 first-period lead, Colorado forced overtime when Brett Clark scored a short-handed goal with 2:04 left in the third period.

Sabres 8, Flyers 2: The rest of the Philadelphia Flyers know exactly how rookie R.J. Umberger felt after they, too, where flattened by the Buffalo Sabres.

Two nights after Umberger was knocked woozy by Brian Campbell’s heavy but legal hit, Buffalo’s J.P. Dumont and Jason Pominville each had three goals and an assist to help the Sabres beat visiting Philadelphia for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference series.

The Sabres, who needed 58 shots to beat Philadelphia 3-2 in double overtime Saturday night, scored twice on their first three shots and needed only 12 to build a 6-1 lead on Dumont’s third goal midway through the second period.

The eight goals were the most since Buffalo’s 8-0 first-round series clinching win over Philadelphia in 2001.

Game 3 of the best-of-7 series is Wednesday night in Philadelphia.