MONTREAL (AP) — Brock Nelson scored the shootout winner in the fourth round as the Colorado Avalanche spoiled a third-period comeback try by Montreal and beat the Canadiens 5-4 on Saturday night.
Colorado’s Charlie Coyle also scored in the shootout. Patrik Laine scored for Montreal.
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Colorado Avalanche's Ross Colton (20) moves in on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault as Canadiens' Christian Dvorak (28) defends during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Colorado Avalanche's Valeri Nichushkin (13) moves in on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault (35) as Canadiens' David Savard (58) defends during overtime in an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Colorado Avalanche's Cale Makar (8) and Montreal Canadiens' Christian Dvorak (28) collide with Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (39) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (39) stops a shot by Montreal Canadiens' Cole Caufield, not pictured, as Avalanche's Cale Makar (8) defends during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Montreal Canadiens' Alexandre Carrier (45) checks Colorado Avalanche's Jack Drury (18) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Colorado Avalanche's Brock Nelson (11) celebrates with teammates after scoring the winning shootout goal against the Montreal Canadiens in an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Colorado Avalanche's Brock Nelson (11) scores against Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault during a shootout in an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Nelson had a goal and an assist in regulation, and Martin Necas, Sam Malinski and Ryan Lindgren also scored for Colorado (43-25-3). Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 25 shots.
Montreal's Joshua Roy and Juraj Slafkovsky — with his second of the game — scored 30 seconds apart midway through the third to cut Colorado’s lead to 4-3. Christian Dvorak tied the game at 13:32.
Slafkovsky took a holding penalty with 2:25 remaining in OT, putting Colorado on the power play. But, Montreal killed off the man advantage.
Sam Montembeault made 33 saves for Montreal, which lost its second straight yet extended its point streak to six games.
The Avalanche won their second straight and have lost only twice in their last 12 games.
Avalanche: Colorado had nine shots in the first six minutes and scored on its 10th and 11th attempts for a lead they held until six minutes remained in the third period.
Canadiens: Showed fight in the second and made a push in the third. After Dvorak tied the score, Lane Hutson and Cole Caufield hit the post with shots.
Dvorak received a pass from Brendan Gallagher and scored on a backhand over Blackwood’s left shoulder, tying the game.
Slafkovsky has eight goals in his last 13 games. The 20-year-old deflected a shot past Blackwood for his 39th career goal. He needs two more before his March 30 birthday to tie Stephane Richer (41) for the second-most in franchise history by players 20 or younger.
Colorado opens a four-game homestand against Detroit on Tuesday. Montreal starts a four-game trip in St. Louis on Tuesday.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Colorado Avalanche's Ross Colton (20) moves in on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault as Canadiens' Christian Dvorak (28) defends during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Colorado Avalanche's Valeri Nichushkin (13) moves in on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault (35) as Canadiens' David Savard (58) defends during overtime in an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Colorado Avalanche's Cale Makar (8) and Montreal Canadiens' Christian Dvorak (28) collide with Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (39) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (39) stops a shot by Montreal Canadiens' Cole Caufield, not pictured, as Avalanche's Cale Makar (8) defends during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Montreal Canadiens' Alexandre Carrier (45) checks Colorado Avalanche's Jack Drury (18) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Colorado Avalanche's Brock Nelson (11) celebrates with teammates after scoring the winning shootout goal against the Montreal Canadiens in an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Colorado Avalanche's Brock Nelson (11) scores against Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault during a shootout in an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
PARIS (AP) — French actor Gérard Depardieu acknowledged Tuesday that he used crude and heated language around a woman who accuses him of sexual assault and grabbed her hips but denied assaulting her, as he testified for the first time at his landmark trial in Paris.
She told the court that he'd behaved “like a madman” who took “pleasure in frightening me.”
Day 2 of the Paris trial centered on the Oscar-nominated actor's behavior during the filming in 2021 of “Les Volets Verts” (“The Green Shutters”), where two co-workers allege that he groped them on the set.
The 76-year-old has denied assaulting the women. But during more than an hour of testimony Tuesday in a packed Paris court, Depardieu acknowledged that he had used vulgar and sexualized language with one of the plaintiffs, a 54-year-old set dresser, and grabbed her hips during an on-set argument about the artistic merits of a painting.
Depardieu said he'd been in a “bad mood" because the set was hot, which was hard for him because he is overweight.
“I understand perfectly if she’s a bit upset,” he said in his gruff, deep voice so familiar to cinemagoers. “I don’t have to talk like that, get angry like that, voilà."
But he insisted that he isn't a sexual predator. “I’m not touching the butts of women,” Depardieu said.
The actor faces up to five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros ($81,000) if convicted. The verdict isn't expected immediately after the trial.
The set dresser testified after Depardieu. She described the alleged assault in detail, saying the actor pincered her between his legs as she squeezed past him in a narrow corridor.
She said he grabbed her hips then started “palpating” her behind and "in front, around.” She ran her hands near her buttocks, hips and pubic area to show what she allegedly experienced. She said he then reached for and grabbed her chest.
“That’s when I had a reflex of ‘My God.' I tried to free myself, I tried to take his hands away, I couldn’t do it," she testified. “He terrified me, he laughed, he looked like a madman."
“It was very brief, there was no shouting,” she said, adding that she'd been too “petrified” to speak and that he was too strong for her to break free. She said someone came and removed Depardieu’s hands from her.
“I saw in his eyes a pleasure in frightening me, that’s what I felt, it's savagery,” she said. "He terrified me, and that amused him.”
She said Depardieu’s calm and cooperative attitude in court bore no resemblance to his behavior at work.
“Here, he’s exemplary, he doesn’t move, he’s quiet, he doesn’t make any noise," she said. “He’s not like that on the film set: He gesticulates, he grunts, he makes remarks to women."
On the movie set, “he started saying sexual things, talking about his sexual capabilities,” she said.
The second plaintiff, a 34-year-old who worked as an assistant on the film, is yet to testify.
Because of Depardieu’s fame and impact on the French movie industry, his trial is seen as an important test of French willingness to confront sexual violence and hold influential men accountable.
His long and storied career — he told that court that he's made more than 250 movies — has turned him into a giant of the French movie industry. French President Emmanuel Macron has included himself among Depardieu's many admirers, calling him a “great actor” who "makes France proud.” That was in 2023, when the star was already facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.
In his testimony, Depardieu said he'd noticed that the set dresser had been taken aback by his behavior and language. He acknowledged that he sometimes has a potty mouth and that his behavior can be boorish.
“I’ve always been told I have a Russian nature, I don’t know if it’s because of the drinking or the vulgarity,” he said. “I have said in black and white that I am a disgusting slob."
But he said he “never, ever” would have pincered a woman between his legs against her will.
“I’m not like that," he said.
Actor Gerard Depardieu, center, leaves with his lawyer Jeremie Assous, right, to the courtroom for a break during his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Karine Silla leaves the courtroom while actor Gerard Depardieu is on trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Actor Anouk Grinberg walks away as actor Gerard Depardieu leaves the courtroom for a break during his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Actor Gerard Depardieu reacts as he leaves the courtroom for a break with his lawyer Jeremie Assous during his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Actor Gerard Depardieu leaves the courtroom for a break during his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Actor Gerard Depardieu, center, returns to the courtroom after a break for his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
A plaintiff returns to the courtroom as actor Gerard Depardieu faces his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021,Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
A plaintiff arrives as actor Gerard Depardieu face his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, with his lawyer Jeremie Assous ,Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Actor Gerard Depardieu returns to the courtroom after a break for his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Actor Gerard Depardieu, left, arrives at his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, with his lawyer Jeremie Assous ,Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Actor Gerard Depardieu, second right,, arrives at his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, with his lawyer Jeremie Assous, right,Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
A plaintiff arrives as actor Gerard Depardieu face his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, with his lawyer Jeremie Assous ,Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Actor Gerard Depardieu, left, arrives at his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, with his lawyer Jeremie Assous ,Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Actor Gerard Depardieu, left, arrives at his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, with his lawyer Jeremie Assous ,Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Actor Gerard Depardieu, left, arrives at his trial for the alleged sexual assaults of two women on a film set in 2021, with his lawyer Jeremie Assous ,Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
