Cristobal Huet gave a big nod to his defence on a night the Montreal Canadiens honoured Serge Savard, one of their best defencemen ever.

Huet made 39 saves, and Michael Ryder and Alexander Perezhogin each ended lengthy goal-scoring droughts, leading Montreal to a 3-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night.

Led by Huet, who recorded his third straight win, the Canadiens' defence frustrated a potent Atlanta lineup featuring three of the NHL's seven top scorers _ Marian Hossa, Ilya Kovalchuk and Vyacheslav Kozlov.

``They tried to throw a lot on net and they didn't have many second chances _ if they had one,'' Huet said.

Ryder scored his first goal in 10 games, scoring a power-play goal in the first period. Perezhogin restored Montreal's one-goal lead in the third with his first in nine games on a stunning one-handed effort.

``Sometimes you go through slumps but I try not to get frustrated,'' Ryder said. ``I just make sure I keep shooting, and it went in tonight.''

Radek Bonk scored into an empty net with 1:14 remaining.

Glen Metropolit was credited with the Thrashers' only goal early in the third when his shot deflected into the net off Canadiens defenceman Sheldon Souray.

Elsewhere in the NHL it was: Ottawa 4, Buffalo 1; New Jersey 2, Toronto 1; Edmonton 4, Detroit 3 (SO); Los Angeles 5, Phoenix 3; Carolina 5, Dallas 4; Boston 3, Washington 2 (OT); New York Islanders 4, Florida 1; Penguins 3, New York Rangers 1; Nashville 4, Columbus 2; Colorado 2, Minnesota 1 (SO); and San Jose 6, Philadelphia 1.

At Montreal, Johan Hedberg stopped 30 shots for Atlanta, which extended its season-high losing streak to four games in the wake of its second four-game winning streak.

Montreal, which lost 5-1 in Florida on Thursday to split a four-game road trip, hasn't lost consecutive games this season.

``Atlanta has a lot of firepower,'' Ryder said. ``They have guys that can score any time in the game and we knew that they were going to keep putting it at the net, and Huet always kept coming up with the big save and held the fort for us.''

Savard's No. 18 was retired by the Canadiens in a 40-minute pregame ceremony.

``When you accomplish what Serge did, on the ice and off the ice, it was well worth it,'' said Thrashers coach Bob Hartley, whose team lost 5-3 to Dallas on Friday. ``It was an honour for us to play in tonight's game and to see the banner up high in the rafters.''

The Hall of Fame defenceman won eight Stanley Cup rings while playing for Montreal from 1966-81, and two more _ in 1986 and 1993 _ as the team's general manager.

``You get a little adrenaline rush when you see his banner going up and how excited he was,'' Ryder said. ``It was great seeing that and I think it actually gave a little boost to some of the guys and maybe motivated them to play a little better.''

Ryder opened the scoring on a power play 14:18 in with his first goal since Oct. 26. He jumped on Hedberg's rebound off Souray's point shot and drove a slap shot over the Atlanta goalie's left shoulder from the left circle for his fifth goal.

``It kind of popped out perfect for me,'' Ryder said. ``I just walked into it and let it go.''

Huet had no chance on the tying goal 3:30 into the third. Metropolit's wild shot from the left side struck Souray, who was standing in front of the goal mouth. The puck deflected off the Canadiens defenceman and past Huet into an open right side.

The Canadiens goalie drew cheers from the sold-out crowd moments later when he stopped Kozlov's backhand.

Perezhogin restored Montreal's one-goal lead shortly after when he stripped the puck from defenceman Andy Sutton and drove the net. He beat Hedberg for his second goal, first since Oct. 28.

``That was a really tough play,'' Hartley said. ``Whenever it bounces in front of a defenceman and their guy is coming in at full speed and it's laying right there, it's a tough way to lose a game. I can't fault one of my guys for tonight's game.''

Senators 4, Sabres 1

At Ottawa, Peter Schaefer and Dany Heatley each had a goal and an assist, and Ray Emery made 23 saves as the Senators handed Buffalo its first road loss of the season.

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Devils 2, Maple Leafs 1

At Toronto, Martin Brodeur made 32 saves and Jaime Langenbrunner scored in his fourth straight game to lead New Jersey past the Maple Leafs.

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Oilers 4, Red Wings 3 (SO)

At Edmonton, Raffi Torres scored the winner in a shootout as the Oilers defeated Detroit.

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Kings 5, Coyotes 3

At Los Angeles, Alexander Frolov recorded his third straight two-goal game and Craig Conroy scored the go-ahead score with 11 minutes left, leading the Kings to victory over Phoenix.

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Hurricanes 5, Stars 4

At Raleigh, N.C., Eric Staal scored three goals and Justin Williams broke a tie with 6:32 remaining to lift Carolina over Dallas.

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Bruins 3, Capitals 2 (OT)

At Boston, Glen Murray scored a power-play goal 2:06 into overtime to lift the Bruins to their season-high fourth straight victory.

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Islanders 4, Panthers 1

At Sunrise, Fla., Mike Dunham made 43 saves, and Arron Asham broke a second-period tie, lifting the New York Islanders to a victory against Florida.

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Penguins 3, Rangers 1

At Pittsburgh, Mark Recchi scored twice and the Penguins shut down Jaromir Jagr and the New York Rangers.

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Predators 4, Blue Jackets 2

At Nashville, Tenn., Jason Arnott scored two power-play goals within 48 seconds of the second period, lifting the Predators over Columbus.

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Avalanche 2, Wild 1 (SO)

At St. Paul, Minn., Peter Budaj made 28 saves in regulation and overtime and Joe Sakic's shootout goal lifted Colorado past Minnesota.

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Sharks 6, Flyers 1

At San Jose, Calif., Patrick Rissmiller and Milan Michalek scored in the opening five minutes and the Sharks beat Philadelphia for their sixth win in seven games.