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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
MONTREAL (AP) -- Although no one can replace Chris Pronger,
Alexander Khavanov did his part to fill in for the injured All-Star
defenseman.
|  | | Chad Kilger lifts the puck over Blues goalie Roman Turek for a first-period goal. |
With Pronger lost to St. Louis for at least the next four weeks,
Khavanov saw increased playing time on special teams and scored his
fourth goal of the season as the St. Louis Blues beat the Montreal
Canadiens 5-2 Tuesday night.
"He's a headsy guy," coach Joel Quenneville said. "He made a
couple of nice plays on the power play, too, that were dangerous
opportunities. He sees the ice well and he's able to play all
situations, which is nice also."
Linemates Jochen Hecht, Ladislav Nagy and Daniel Corso scored
first-period goals for St. Louis and Khavanov scored an unassisted
goal 18:28 into the second period to put the Blues ahead 4-2.
Scott Young added his 23rd tally just 1:15 into the third as St. Louis
won for the third time in four games, and its first without
Pronger.
Pronger, last season's NHL MVP, had arthroscopic surgery to
repair torn cartilage in his left knee earlier Tuesday.
"I thought we did a nice job," Quenneville said. "Khavy comes
in and plays a lot of important minutes. Everybody got a little
more ice time."
Pronger played more than 30 minutes in Sunday's 3-1 loss in
Nashville and averaged over 28 minutes of ice time per game. Voted
to start for the North American team at the upcoming All-Star game,
Pronger joined teammates Pavol Demitra, Lubos Bartecko, Michal
Handzus and Sean Hill on the injured list.
"Obviously, we're going to have to do it as a group,"
defenseman Al MacInnis said. "Every team goes through injuries,
and we're no different. We've got Handzus out, we've got Demitra
out, but Prongs is a big part of it, he plays about half the game.
"Hopefully it will make us stronger. I think when most players
get more ice time, they rise to the challenge."
Despite their woes, the Blues had the good fortune of facing a
Canadiens team ravaged by injuries.
"We've got to have 20 guys at their best for us to win,"
Montreal defenseman Eric Weinrich said. "And tonight we didn't
have it."
Brian Savage, the Canadiens' leading scorer, became the 11th
player currently sidelined by injury when he broke his left thumb
in Saturday's tie with the New York Rangers.
"It's pretty unbelievable," Quenneville said. "I don't think
too many stranger things can happen than what they've been going
through."
Savage was joined on the sidelines by Chad Kilger, who scored
his ninth goal 7:53 into the first before leaving later in the
period with a mild hip flexor.
"It happened on the shift where I scored," Kilger said. "I
just pulled it a little bit. I didn't realize it was tight and
tried to go out for another shift and it just wasn't very
comfortable."
Jim Campbell, who signed as a free agent with the Canadiens
after spending most of the last four seasons with the Blues, scored
his sixth goal on a power play 15:39 into the second, drawing
Montreal within 3-2.
Hecht opened the scoring with his 14th goal on a power play 1:26
in when he redirected MacInnis' slap shot past goalie Mathieu
Garon.
After Kilger tied it at 1, Nagy scored his third at 11:32 to put
St. Louis back in front.
Corso was left alone in front of Garon to bang home his third
goal at 17:36, giving the Blues a 3-1 lead.
St. Louis outshot Montreal 29-23, including 10-5 in the first,
as Blues goalie Roman Turek stopped 21 shots.
"They're the second-best team in the league, and there's a
reason why they are," Weinrich said. "They keep doing the same
thing over and over and we just played right into their hands. They
played a good game, too. Give them credit, but we didn't play well
enough -- period."
Game notes
St. Louis won for just the 10th time in 58 regular-season
games at Montreal. ... The game, the Blues' first in Montreal since
Jan. 11, 1999, was the only regular-season meeting between the
teams this season. ... St. Louis' last win at the Molson Centre was
an 8-1 victory Jan. 25, 1997. ... The Canadiens, who set an NHL
record with 536 man-games lost to injury last season, lead the
league with 299 man-games lost this season. ... Kilger accompanied
the team to Pittsburgh, where he will determine whether he can be
in the lineup for Wednesday's game.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
Montreal Clubhouse
Reigning NHL MVP Pronger has surgery on knee
RECAPS
Columbus 2
Buffalo 1
St. Louis 5
Montreal 2
Ottawa 3
NY Islanders 2
Washington 5
Tampa Bay 2
Nashville 4
Atlanta 3
Phoenix 4
Calgary 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 The Blues' Roman Turek escapes a near power-play goal with one of his 21 saves.
avi: 565 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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ATHLETESDIRECT
Chris Pronger Official Site
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