Halak makes 38 saves as Canadiens beat Pens to even series at 1-1

Sidney Crosby showed his exasperation by slamming his stick against the net as the Penguins were turned aside again and again by Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak.

Turns out it's not just Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals who the underdog Canadiens are capable of frustrating, tormenting - and beating.

Mike Cammalleri scored two goals, Halak made 38 saves in a performance much like his series-stealing play during his team's first-round upset of Washington and the Canadiens surprised the Penguins with a 3-1 win yesterday.

Brian Gionta also scored as Montreal, playing without injured defenseman Andrei Markov, bounced back from a 6-3 loss in Game 1 and an early 1-0 deficit to even the Eastern Conference semifinal series at one game each.

Suddenly, a series the Stanley Cup champion Penguins are heavily favored to win doesn't look like a walk-over after all.

"That's what we wanted to do, a series like this, we wanted to get one [in Pittsburgh]," Scott Gomez said. "It's far from over. But we came for one."

And they got it. Game 3 is Tuesday night in Montreal, followed by Game 4 on Thursday. The first playoff series between the teams since 1998 returns to Pittsburgh for Game 5 on Saturday.

"It's nothing to get frustrated about," Penguins forward Bill Guerin said. "We don't have to go and reinvent the wheel. They're a solid defensive team. They're well coached, they know what they're doing and you don't want to get down to teams like that."

Halak, pulled after allowing five goals on 20 shots in Game 1, made big save after big save as the Canadiens won despite being outshot 39-21. Crosby didn't score for the second straight game and neither did Evgeni Malkin, even though Pittsburgh's two stars skated together at times.

The Penguins were without center Jordan Staal because of a damaged tendon in his right foot, but his absence didn't explain the Penguins' inability to solve Halak. Or Pittsburgh going 0-for-3 on the power play after being a perfect 4-for-4 in Game 1.

"They were a little bit more aggressive in the neutral zone and in their zone, but that's the playoffs . . . everybody has to adjust," Crosby said. "They're going to adjust and we're going to adjust. At the end of the day, we've got to find a way to put the puck in."

Sharks 4, Red Wings 3

Joe Thornton scored his first goal of the playoffs with 7:23 left to give host San Jose a 2-0 lead in the second-round series. Joe Pavelski kept up his sizzling postseason for San Jose, scoring twice to push his NHL-high playoff total to nine and setting up Ryane Clowe's goal. Thornton then won it by ending his playoff drought. Dany Heatley skated up ice on a three-on-two break and fired a slap shot at Jimmy Howard. Thornton beat Brian Rafalski to the rebound in the crease and poked in the winner.

Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom and 40-year-old captain Nicklas Lidstrom scored for the Red Wings, who were unable to hold on to a 3-2 lead heading into the third. - AP