MONTREAL (AP) — Antti Niemi felt good after his first start of the season — and a win.Niemi made 25 saves Adidas Christian Folin Jersey , and Paul Byron and Jonathan Drouin scored in the shootout to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.Niemi, getting the start with Carey Price out with the flu, also stopped both shots in the shootout — on Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.“It was a tough first half, didn’t see many pucks and I gave up a few goals,” Niemi said. “Not what you normally want to see. In the third, I started seeing a few more pucks and I was feeling good.“I have to be really happy with my night.”With the score tied 3-3, the Canadiens’ goalie made 14 stops in the third period and another three in a frantic overtime period that saw Montreal fail to score on a 4-on-3 power play.After Byron scored first in the shootout for Montreal, Niemi forced Malkin to the outside and completely took away his shooting angle. Following Drouin’s goal, Crosby needed to score to send it to a third round but the Penguins’ captain found Niemi’s glove instead.“Stay with them, get a good gap and go from there,” Niemi said of his shootout saves. “Nothing special.”Tomas Tatar had two goals and an assist Adidas Erik Karlsson Jersey , and Brendan Gallagher had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens.Dominik Simon, Kris Letang and Phil Kessel scored in regulation for the Penguins, and Casey DeSmith had 37 saves through overtime.Making the 13th start of his NHL career, the 27-year-old DeSmith made big saves when it mattered most to help Pittsburgh earn a point.With seven minutes left in the game, DeSmith robbed Artturi Lehkonen twice to keep the teams tied. In overtime, DeSmith frustrated Max Domi from in close.“That was wild,” said DeSmith, who made 35 saves in a 4-2 win over Vegas on Thursday. “Really exciting game for the fans. Happy we got a point but I hate losing as much as everyone else. I was seeing the puck really well tonight. Happy with how my game’s progressing.”Added Penguins coach Mike Sullivan of his goalie: “I thought he was terrific.”Montreal also defeated Pittsburgh 5-1 last Saturday.Simon and Letang scored in the first period to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead. Daniel Sprong fed Simon in front of the goal with a one-handed scoop pass and the 24-year-old beat Niemi on the backhand at 3:13. Letang doubled Pittsburgh’s lead with 4:44 left with a shot on Niemi’s blocker side.The Canadiens came out buzzing in the second period, scoring three straight goals before Kessel tied it again. Montreal outshot Pittsburgh 19-4 in the second.Just 11 seconds into the middle period, Tatar beat Letang to a loose puck in front of the net, then fired past DeSmith for his first in a Canadiens uniform.Gallagher tied it 2-2 at 7:38 after jumping on a rebound of Jeff Petry’s point shot.Tatar got his second of the game Adidas Adam Cracknell Jersey , on the power play, by firing the puck off DeSmith and in from the side of the net at 8:51 to push Montreal ahead.“We knew we weren’t good enough in the first and we talked about how we needed to be better,” said Tatar, who joined Montreal in the offseason trade that sent former captain Max Pacioretty to Vegas. “We got a pretty good jump at the start of the second period.“Everyone played well in the second period and we had a lot of pressure. We all deserve the credit.”With the Penguins on a man advantage, Kessel made it 3-3 from the slot at 11:14.Montreal failed to score on a 5-on-3 power play that lasted 1:49 to end the second period.It looked like the Canadiens had taken a 4-3 lead in the third period when defenseman Victor Mete put the puck past DeSmith, but the goal was called back for goaltender interference on Andrew Shaw after a challenge by Sullivan.NOTES: Montreal also had a goal overturned in its previous, also due to goalie interference against Shaw, in its 3-0 loss to Los Angeles. … Pittsburgh D Justin Schultz left the game in the first period and did not return. Schultz’s leg folded awkwardly as fell to the ice after taking a hit by Tomas Plekanec, who was making his 999th career start.UP NEXTPenguins: Host Vancouver on Tuesday night.Canadiens: Host Detroit on Monday night. PHILADELPHIA (AP) A crucial victory kept the Flyers in control of their own playoff destiny.Jakub Voracek scored with 5:45 left in the third period to lift playoff-chasing Philadelphia over the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 on Thursday night.Claude Giroux, Ivan Provorov and Michael Raffl also scored for Philadelphia, which began play holding the second and final wild card Adidas Josh Jooris Jersey , four points ahead of Florida. The Flyers would have clinched a playoff spot if Boston beat the Panthers, but Florida topped the Bruins 3-2 later Thursday.Philadelphia can secure a playoff spot in its final regular-season game on Saturday with a victory over the Rangers or an overtime loss. A Florida loss in either of its final two games, Saturday against Buffalo and Sunday at Boston, also would send Philadelphia to the postseason.”We got the job done tonight,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. ”Now we have a big one Saturday afternoon.”The Flyers seemed in great shape when Giroux put them up 3-2 with 9:42 remaining behind a wrist shot that beat goalie Scott Darling. It extended the Flyers captain’s career-high totals to 31 goals and 98 points. Flyers fans shouted ”M-V-P!” `’M-V-P!” when Giroux was shown on the video board following the tally.The Hurricanes erased the lead when Brian Elliott let in his second soft goal of the game, this one Jordan Staal’s backhander from a sharp angle near the side boards with 6:19 left.Elliott returned to work after missing the last 25 games following core muscle surgery on Feb. 13. Elliott, who was injured on Feb. 10, entered 21-11-7 with a 2.72 goals-against average and .908 save percentage this season. He finished with 19 saves.”It’s almost like opening-night jitters again,” Elliott said. ”It’s hard to replicate a game in practice.”Voracek scored on a wrist shot from a sharp angle that got past Darling’s left shoulder.It was enough to send the Flyers to victory.”We battled hard, we grinded it out and we played the right way,” Giroux said.Philadelphia’s captain is feeling good about his team’s chances in their final – and most important – game.”We like the way we’re playing right now Adidas Timothy Liljegren Jersey ,” he said. ”Everybody is doing their job, doing what they’re best at. Normally when you do that, you get wins.”Klas Dahlbeck and Sebastian Aho also scored for Carolina, which has lost three straight and four of five. The Hurricanes had already been eliminated from playoff contention.”We got better as the game went on and more competitive as the game went on,” Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said.The Flyers dominated the opening 10 minutes, outshooting Carolina 13-3, but couldn’t get on the board. The Hurricanes finally struck with 6:15 left in the first when Dahlbeck netted his first goal in his 32nd game of the season and just the sixth in his 169-game career.Raffl answered 53 seconds later when he banged home a shot in front after Giroux’s pass was intercepted by Carolina’s Justin Williams but went fortuitously to Raffl in front of the net.The Hurricanes quickly broke the tie when Aho scored on a backhander from a sharp angle to the right of Elliott 14 seconds after Raffl’s tally. The goal was a soft one for Elliott.Philadelphia scored the only goal in the second period when Provorov finished an excellent pass from Sean Couturier right in front of Darling to tie it at 2. The tying score came after some near misses in the period for Philadelphia, as Jori Lehtera hit the post from close range and Voracek missed a golden opportunity from Darling’s doorstep two minutes later.NOTES: Giroux has five goals and 10 assists during a nine-game point streak. … Aho extended his team-leading totals to 29 goals and 65 points. … Couturier and Shayne Gostisbehere each had two assists.UP NEXTHurricanes: Host Tampa Bay on Saturday night to end regular season.Flyers: Host Rangers on Saturday to finish regular season.—