MONTREAL -- The Canadiens, full of class and elan even during the darkest days, made Larry Robinson's first visit as the Los Angeles Kings' coach a memorable one as new general manager Rejean Houle presented him with a mural commemorating his recent induction into the Hall of Fame for his 20-year playing career, 17 of those in Montreal.


Then the sellout crowd of 16,811 at the Forum gave Robinson a warm, one-minute standing ovation.


And what were Robinson's thoughts?


"Let's get the game going," he said.


Bad idea. The Kings, playing their worst game of Robinson's eight-game tenure, suffered their first loss of the season, 6-3. Los Angeles (4-1-3) entered the game as the last unbeaten team in the NHL.


Montreal is 2-0 under Houle and new head coach Mario Tremblay, after an 0-5 start to the season.


Lifting the Canadiens was Finnish rookie center Saku Koivu, a prot?g? of King right wing Jari Kurri. Koivu scored his first two goals of the season, pleasing about 50 friends, family and journalists from his hometown of Turku.


The Kings, in their third game in four nights, were playing without two of their top six defensemen -- Rob Blake (torn ligament) and Denis Tsygurov (broken right index finger) -- and Arto Blomsten lasted 10 minutes before leaving with back spasms.


Avalanche 3, Mighty Ducks 1. Milos Holan shed the weight of a secret Sunday, and Monday night in McNichols Arena it no longer mattered to him how many people in the crowd of 16,000 knew it as they watched him play.


The day before, Holan, 24, somberly announced that he has chronic granulocytic leukemia, a slow-progressing but deadly form of the disease that requires a bone-marrow transplant as soon as a donor can be found. But as he emerged from the Mighty Ducks' dressing room after a 3-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, Holan smiled and his eyes danced. He had his own victory.


"When I step on the ice, everything's behind me, and I concentrate on hock-ey," he said. "I want to forget on the ice."


Holan started the game and played a regular defensive shift, as well as one of the points on the power play. Adam Deadmarsh, Mike Ricci and Valery Kamensky scored first-period goals for Colorado, which has not lost at home. Mike Sillinger got the only Ducks goal.