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Montreal’s Mathieu Darche, left, and Toronto’s Tomas Kaberle, right, eye a flying puck during Saturday’s game. (Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press)

The excellent times finally finished for the Montreal Canadiens.

The team that has been so excellent in overtime and the shootouts this season dropped a 3-2 shootout choice to the rival Toronto Maple Leafs to snap its six-game win streak at the Air Canada Centre.

After Toronto’s Phil Kessel shot high, both Nikolai Kulemin and John Mitchell made excellent on their shootout attempts on Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak, who had stopped 15 of 16 shootout attempts coming into the game.

Montreal’s Andrei Kostitsyn beat Toronto goalie Jonas Gustavsson to start the shootout, but the stingy netminder got the best of Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta on their attempts.

It was only Montreal’s third loss in 10 shootouts this season, while the Leafs now are 4-3 in the overtime gimmick.

Toronto and Montreal were deadlocked 1-1 after the first period and the Maple Leafs loved a 2-1 advantage following 40 minutes. Toronto outshot the Canadiens 33-27.

This was the 701st regular-season meeting between the long-time rivals and the two teams arrived on the scene for their fifth game against each other playing their best hockey of the year.

The Maple Leafs had won five of six. Montreal loved a season-high six-game victory string.

One of the reasons for the Habs’ success has been their balanced scoring attack and an efficient power play.

Special teams key

But the Canadiens weren’t very excellent in man-advantage situations against the youthful Leafs until the 13:54 mark of the third period when Gionta redirected a Gomez shot for the tying goal on the power play.

Montreal messed up its first five power-play opportunities of the game, including a double-minor high-sticking penalty to Toronto’s Jamie Lundmark for clipping Canadiens forward Maxim Lapierre late in the second period.

The four-minute man-advantage situation was just what the Habs needed because they had given up the 2-1 go-ahead goal to Maple Leafs sniper Kessel when Montreal defenceman Josh Gorges got caught on a pinch inside the Leafs blue line.

Toronto’s Tyler Bozak, who scored the game’s opening goal late in the first period on a rebound, was the Maple Leafs forward who pushed the puck past Gorges to start the play on Kessel’s 28th goal of the season and sixth in his past six games.

Three minutes and 21 seconds after Bozak’s goal, Canadiens forward Brian Gionta beat Toronto rookie Gustavsson with a high backhand.

Police examine the scene at a clothing store in Ancient Montreal where four people were shot on March 18. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)

The owner of a clothing boutique in Ancient Montreal where two men were killed and two others wounded appeared briefly in court Saturday via video link.

Ducarme Joseph, 41, was remanded in custody until Monday for a bail hearing.

He was arrested Friday for violating his bail conditions related to an assault charge. He is alleged to have intimidated business owners in a bid to exert influence over drug territory.

Joseph was picked up less than a day after four men were shot in broad daylight at his St-Jacques Street clothing shop.

Ducarme Joseph is scheduled to be arraigned Saturday for allegedly violating bail conditions. (CBC)

Police have speculated that the professionally executed killing was an act of retaliation connected to the criminal underworld.

Masked shooters opened fire in the upscale clothing shop just after lunch hour. The victims range from 27 to 59 years of age, and three of them are known to police, including the youngest victim, identified as Joseph’s bodyguard.

Investigators believe Joseph was the intended target of the attack. There are reports he slipped out the back door of the Flawnego boutique during the shooting.

Authorities have been searching for two suspects seen fleeing the scene of the shooting in the city’s historic waterfront business district.

According to court documents filed by police, Joseph is a reputed street gang leader and also acted as an enforcer for a Montreal real estate developer.