Canadiens stop the Predators, 6-5

Sergei Samsonov forced overtime when he scored with 47.1 seconds to play and Saku Koivu’s shootout goal helped the Montreal Canadiens rally for a 6-5 shootout victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night at Nashville.

Peter Forsberg, acquired by Nashville in a trade last week, had a chance to answer Koivu’s goal, but was stopped by rookie Jaroslav Halak.

Michael Ryder, Mark Streit, Garth Murray and Alexander Perezhogin scored for Montreal.

J.P. Dumont had a goal and two assists for the Predators, who regained a share of first place in the Central Division and Western Conference standings despite the loss. Nashville is tied with Detroit with 84 points.

In other games:

Evgeni Nabokov made 21 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and Joe Thornton had a goal and an assist in San Jose’s 2-0 victory over host Chicago.... Niklas Backstrom stopped 28 shots and Wyatt Smith scored his first goal in 92 games to help Minnesota defeat Colorado, 4-3, at Denver.

Shane Doan scored 54 seconds into overtime and Phoenix ended its six-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over Calgary at Glendale, Ariz.... New Jersey completed a sweep of a home-and-home series with a 3-2 shootout victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Martin St. Louis scored with 1:16 left in overtime to lead Tampa Bay past Atlanta, 5-4, at Atlanta.... Edmonton stopped a four-game losing streak with a 4-0 victory over Columbus at Columbus, Ohio.

Colby Armstrong scored at 2:39 of overtime to lead Pittsburgh past Florida, 2-1, at Sunrise, Fla.... Glen Wesley scored a short-handed goal 16 seconds into overtime and Carolina scored a 3-2 victory over Philadelphia at Raleigh, N.C.... Randy Robitaille scored the only goal of the shootout to lead the New York Islanders to a 3-2 victory over Toronto at Uniondale, N.Y.