MONTREAL -- If the Montreal Canadiens had lost the game, Max Pacioretty would have been kicking himself for a long time, despite scoring a hat trick. Paul Molitor Jersey . With the Canadiens leading the Vancouver Canucks by only one goal midway through the second period on Thursday, a game Montreal would eventually win 5-2, Pacioretty was awarded two penalty shots in a two-minute span. He missed them both. For the first, Pacioretty was hooked on a breakaway by recently-acquired defenceman Raphael Diaz at 11:47. After the referee pointed to centre ice, the Canadiens leading goal-scorer walked in all alone, but shot high and wide. "I thought a little bit too much before the shot," said Pacioretty, who had already scored Montreals first goal earlier in the game. "That didnt help me." Less than two minutes later, Alexandre Burrows took Pacioretty down on another breakaway, and the decision on the ice was the same. "I couldnt believe it," said Pacioretty. "I was just trying to catch my breath, wipe down my visor, buy myself a little extra time. Thats the last thing I would expect to happen so quickly after my first one." This time, Pacioretty lost control of the puck, bobbled it, and then took a weak backhand shot on Roberto Luongo, who made the pad save. Pacioretty has taken three penalty shots in his career - two on Thursday, and another on Oct. 12, 2013, in Vancouver. Luongo, who made 25 saves on Thursday, got the better of him on all three occasions. "Hes a big goalie, hes a good goalie," said Pacioretty of the Canucks netminder. "When it comes to penalty shots, hes in my head." Despite missing both, Montreals leading scorer became the first Canadien in team history to take two penalty shots in the same game - let alone the same period. Pacioretty redeemed himself at the start of the third, though, beating Luongo glove-side for his second of the game, the game-winner, and team-leading 25th goal of the season. He also added an empty-netter for his second hat trick of the season. "He stuck with it," said P.K. Subban of his power forward. "It says a lot about his character. Its tough, especially for a guy like him who wants to score so badly. He scored two goals afterwards. It shows how mentally tough he is and determined he is. Kudos to him." The Canucks have lost six consecutive games for the first time in five years. The team is still winless (0-3) since coach John Tortorellas return from a 15-day suspension. After the two missed penalty shots, the Canucks (27-23-9) started the third period down 2-1, but couldnt beat Carey Price for the equalizer. Price frustrated Vancouvers shooters all night, stopping 42 shots for Montreal (31-21-6). Tortorella called the game an "uphill battle." "Our first period was okay," he said. "We played really well in the second. We just couldnt carry it. We needed momentum early in the third period, and maybe score a goal to keep us going." The Canucks did get one back in the third when Alexander Edler beat Price far side with a wrist shot while the Canucks played 5-on-4. But it wasnt enough. Stuck on 63 points, Vancouver is holding on to the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. But Tortorella doesnt think his players have the wrong attitude. "Thats the only thing we can do as a club, right now, is stay positive," said Tortorella. "Why lose that battle? The bench was alive, they played hard. That wont be a problem. We need to continue working at this." After Paciorettys first goal of the game at 14:59 of the first period, Ryan White fired home his first goal of the season. White couldnt have asked for an easier first goal, taking advantage of a sprawled-out Luongo, who thought he was covering the puck, to fire a backhand shot into the roof of the net and give the Habs a 2-0 lead. "I was making sure I put that one in, for sure. I saw the empty net, and I just wanted to make sure I didnt give (Luongo) any opportunity to make the save. He was down and out, and I had to make sure." Dale Weise, in only his second game with Montreal, got an assist on the goal. Former-Hab Chris Higgins made it 2-1 for the visitors at 2:31 of the second period, beating Price on the power play with a redirected shot off his shin for his 16th goal of the year. Montreal had killed off 28 straight penalties prior to Higgins power-play goal. The Canadiens added a fourth goal when Edler kicked the puck into his own net at 8:14. Tomas Plekanec, the last Montreal player to touch the puck, was credited with the goal. The Canadiens had lost four in a row in January, but have since gone 4-1-1. "Were a more confident group," said White. "When you lose, youre second-guessing yourself. Youre maybe not making the right plays all the time, they come back to haunt you. "When were confident, when were playing as a group, those mistakes tend to slide sometimes." NOTES: Henrik Sedin (rib) and Dan Hamhuis (leg) were not in the lineup for the Canucks. The injury even forced Sedin to withdraw from the Olympic Games earlier in the day. ... Weise and Diaz both faced their former teams after they were traded on Monday. ... Travis Moen (lower body) did not dress for the Habs, and is listed as day-to-day. ... This was the second of two games between Montreal and Vancouver this season. The Canadiens beat the Canucks 4-1 on Oct. 12, 2013. Joe Carter Jersey . THE MICHAEL JORDAN FLU GAME First this famous basketball moment. The story goes like this. “Game 5, known as "The Flu Game", was one of Michael Jordans most memorable. Marcus Stroman Jersey . Henrik Samuelsson and Luke Bertolucci also scored for the Oil Kings, who are now 9-0 on home ice in the playoffs to cut Portlands series lead to 2-1. Chase De Leo and Mathew Dumba responded for the Winterhawks, who suffered just their fourth loss in their last 46 games, a string of success running all the way back to Jan. http://www.teambluejaysprostore.us/Darwin-Barney-blue-jays-jersey/ . When the next inning rolled around Wednesday, though, Nationals manager Matt Williams sent Strasburg to the mound to face the top of the Dodgers order in what would become a 3-2 victory for Washington, the first time this season the No.DETROIT - A runaway title in a division of behemoths, then an unexpected sweep against a trio of Cy Young winners.For Nelson Cruz, Buck Showalter and this unheralded bunch from Baltimore, the question now is: Whats next?Cruz sliced a two-run homer for his latest big post-season hit, and the Orioles held off the Detroit Tigers 2-1 Sunday to reach the AL Championship Series for the first time since 1997.Bud Norris outpitched David Price in Game 3 of the AL Division Series. The Tigers scored in the ninth inning and put the tying run on second with no outs, but Orioles closer Zach Britton escaped the jam to lift Showalter into his first LCS in 16 seasons as a big league manager.This is fun to watch. Believe me, Im happier than you can imagine, Showalter said. But most of it comes from getting to see the players get what theyve put into it.Baltimore opens the ALCS on Friday at home against Kansas City. The Royals won the season series 4-3.Weve got a lot to go and were grinding, outfielder Adam Jones said. If we play as a team, we can do anything.So often an afterthought in the rugged AL East, the Orioles won their first division title since 1997 this year, dispatching the second-place New York Yankees by 12 games a€” and last-place Boston by more than double that margin. That put Baltimore up against another of the games most star-laden rosters, and Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander and the Tigers couldnt manage a single win.Cruzs homer Sunday was his 16th in post-season play, including eight against the Tigers. He was the MVP of the 2011 ALCS for Texas in a six-game victory over Detroit.Cruz spent much of this past off-season without a team after serving a 50-game suspension last year for violating baseballs drug agreement.He knows things were self-inflicted, Showalter said. He really wanted to re-establish himself, and we thought that we could provide a real good opportunity for him, and the sky might be the limit.Norris pitched two-hit ball for 6 1-3 innings, and Andrew Miller got five straight outs to keep the shutout going.Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez opened the ninth with back-to-back doubles off Britton. Bryan Holaday struck out after a failed bunt attempt, and Showalter made the unconventional decision to put the winning run on base by intentionally walking Nick Castellanos.That meant the bottom of Detroits lineup would have to come through. The Tigers sent up Hernan Perez a€” who had five at-bats in the regular season a€” to pinch hit, and he bounced a 96 mph fastball into a 5-4-3 double play. It was Brittons second save of the series.Cruz led the majors with 40 homers this season, and the Orioles topped baseball with 211. It was his two-run homer in the first inning of the opener that set the series tone, and he came through again in the sixth inning against Price. CCruzs drive cleared the wall in right, about 2 feet to the left of the foul pole. Michael Saunders Jersey. ot bad for a guy the Orioles signed in late February. Cruz turned down a $14.1 million qualifying offer that would have kept him with Texas a€” but he ended up having to settle for an $8 million, one-year contract with Baltimore that included $750,000 in roster bonuses.Cruzs powerful bat enabled the Orioles to withstand season-ending injuries to Manny Machado and Matt Wieters, as well as Chris Davis 25-game suspension for an amphetamine violation.If you tell me before the series were going to sweep, I dont believe it, Cruz said.Detroit won its fourth straight AL Central this year. But after reaching at least the ALCS the last three seasons, Detroit couldnt make it there this year. The Tigers remain without a World Series title since 1984 a€” a drought one year shorter than Baltimores.Its disappointing. You feel like you let the fans down and you feel like you let the organization down, said Brad Ausmus, who replaced Jim Leyland as Detroits manager after last season.Detroit acquired Price at this years trade deadline, adding another impressive arm to an already-formidable rotation. Max Scherzer, Price and Verlander are the ALs last three Cy Young Award winners, and the Tigers started them all in this series. Verlander and Cabrera have combined for the last three MVP awards.No use against a Baltimore team that had already surprised most of baseball with a 96-win regular season.We got beat. Theres all there is to say, Scherzer said. We got outplayed in the series in every facet.After dropping the first two games of the ALDS in Baltimore a€” the second thanks to an eighth-inning collapse by the bullpen a€” the Tigers returned home to a fairly subdued crowd at Comerica Park.In the third, Don Kelly was on second with one out when Torii Hunter hit a grounder to the left side. Kelly was caught between second and third and tried to slide headfirst back to second. Second baseman Jonathan Schoop initially dropped the throw from shortstop J.J. Hardy, then quickly picked up the ball and tagged Kelly.An umpire supervisor said through Major League Baseball spokeswoman Phyllis Merhige that Schoop was still in the act of fielding the ball, so it was not obstruction.It was probably more incidentally than anything else, going after the ball, Ausmus said. I dont know that anything could be done in that situation.TRAINERS ROOMDetroit OF Rajai Davis was out of the starting lineup with a pelvic strain. He lined out as a pinch- hitter in the seventh. Tigers C Alex Avila left in the sixth after taking a foul ball off the mask.UP NEXTBaltimore reached the ALCS in 1996 and 1997, losing to the Yankees and Cleveland. The Orioles went 3-4 against Kansas City this season and 4-2 against the Angels. 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