"It's modest, as goal-scoring streaks go: the overtime winner scored in one consecutive Canadiens season-opener. But then, Josh Gorges has scored eight goals total in his 328-game NHL career, seven for Montreal and one for the San Jose Sharks, so a winner in extra time is likely to stand out. That goal last Oct. 1, and his assist on Glen Metropolit's game-tying score late in the third period, earned Gorges first star. How many times, the question was put to the Canadiens defenceman, has he been so honoured post-game? "Uh... never?" Gorges offered last evening as he checked into his team's hotel. Then, through a grin: "Was I? I didn't even know that." Gorges's historic -for him -OT winner came at the Air Canada Centre with 12.8 seconds left on the clock when he flipped the leftovers of a Michael Cammalleri shot past Maple Leafs goalie Vesa Toskala, giving the Canadiens a 4-3 victory. If he doesn't remember taking the first star's twirl, he vividly recalls the goal. "Time was running short, Cammy got the puck and made a great move at the blue line to open up some space," he said. "I was thinking: 'You know what? There's not a lot of time left. Follow the play up the ice.' "I was fortunate the puck bounced right back to my stick. It was a quick play and I just tried to throw it on net. With the traffic and the goalie a little down, it found its way into the net." Is the Canadiens' increasingly valuable rearguard hot against the Maple Leafs? Two of his seven goals scored for Montreal, 29 per cent, have come against Toronto. "Just lucky," the 26-year-old Kelowna, B.C., native joked, before he considered the intensity he again expects to find on the ice tonight in the season-opener for the clubs." http://www.montrealgazette.com/spor.../Gorges strikes fear Leafs/3635276/story.html
