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Bruins top Canadiens, stay alive

Apr 18, 2008 - 5:08 AM MONTREAL (Ticker) -- Carey Price made a rookie mistake, and the Boston Bruins ran with it.

Glen Metropolit snapped a tie 3 1/2 minutes into the third period after a miscue by Price and the eighth-seeded Bruins remained alive in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the top-seeded Montreal Canadiens by posting a 5-1 victory in Game Five on Thursday.

Phil Kessel, captain Zdeno Chara, Marco Sturm and rookie Vladimir Sobotka also scored for the Bruins, who still trail in the series, three games to two.

"We stuck to our game plan and got some bounces," Metropolit said. "I think the hockey gods owed us one or two. We're not getting too high or too low. We know how good they are and how good they can be."

David Krejci and defenseman Andrew Ference each had two assists and Tim Thomas made 31 saves for Boston, which hosts Game Six on Saturday.

"I've never seen a team down 3-2 in control," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "We have to win the next game or we're going home. It's as simple as that."

"Everyone is pulling the rope at the same time," Metropolit added. "We've had our backs against the wall the whole year with injuries and fighting for the last playoff spot for the final month, so I think it shows we have a good bunch of boys in here."

Alexei Kovalev netted the lone goal for the Canadiens, whose top-ranked power play during the regular season failed to score on four opportunities.

"We aren't working, that's the bottom line," Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said of his team's lack of success with the man advantage. "I wouldn't say it didn't work in all the games, but tonight, we didn't work. ... We didn't work as a unit, which we did most of the year."

With the game tied at 1-1 after two periods, the 20-year-old Price made a crucial error early in the third that led to the eventual winning goal.

"It's tough when you have a chance to put a team out," Price said. "It was my first bad game in 12 starts. It's going to happen eventually. Fortunately for us, we have two more cracks at it."

After snagging a loose puck out of mid-air with his glove, Price dropped it in front of his crease for Maxim Lapierre. However, Metropolit pounced on it and deposited it into the net at 3:31 for his first career postseason goal and a 2-1 edge.

"I didn't see the guy come in from behind me," Price said. "He just chopped it away from Max and it wound up in our net. I won't think about it again once I leave this dressing room."

"It surprised me," Metropolit said. "I was kind of looking for the puck. I just went to the front and I kind of heard the crowd groan or something, and it was at my stick. (Petteri) Nokelainen was behind the net and I went back out to the front of the net. I didn't know where the puck was and I just kind of snuck up on Carey and got the shot on net."

Carbonneau was not surprised by Price's mistake or sub-par performance.

"You don't wish for it, but you know it's going to come at one point," Carbonneau said. "Whether it's the first series or the last, the first game or the last game. But I saw him play last year in the playoffs in Hamilton (of the American Hockey League) and they won the (Calder) Cup. He wasn't playing on top of his game every game, but he would rebound very well, so it doesn't scare me very much. I know he's going to come back and be strong next game."

The momentum turned in Boston's favor after that, as it went on to score three more goals for a convincing victory.

During a power play, Chara unleashed a one-timer from the right point that hit a stick on its way to the net and beat Price at 5:49 for a two-goal bulge. Less than 10 minutes later, Sturm fired the puck into the top right corner of the net during a shorthanded breakaway, giving the Bruins a 4-1 cushion.

"You give a team a chance with their backs against the wall, they're obviously not going to quit," said Montreal's Bryan Smolinski, a former Bruin. "They're going to keep going and they're going to try and bury it, and that's what they did."

Sobotka sealed the triumph with 2:12 remaining, beating Price with a knuckling shot from the left faceoff dot for his first career playoff tally.

"We know it's going to take 60, maybe more, minutes," Chara said. "It's not a question of, 'Let's turn it on now.' We want to work hard. We knew we had to win, and we have to approach the next game the same way."

With the chance to eliminate Boston and gain extra rest heading into the conference semifinals, Montreal struck first on an impressive effort by Kovalev.

After sustaining a check from the hulking Chara near the Bruins' bench that knocked off his helmet, Kovalev gained possession of the puck and carried it into the offensive zone. Defenseman Patrice Brisebois put a shot from the blue line right into Kovalev, who grabbed the puck and placed it on the ice before backhanding it past Thomas from the inner edge of the right circle at 9:47 of the first period.

A healthy scratch for each of the previous three games, Kessel knotted the contest at 7:45 of the middle period.

With Boston on the man advantage, the 20-year-old ripped a shot from the left circle that was blocked by Canadiens defenseman Mike Komisarek. But the puck came right back to Kessel, who converted his second chance for his first career postseason goal.

"That was good for Phil," Metropolit said. "He's been battling, so it was good to see him come in and get a big goal for us."

"The main thing is, when a player comes back, you hope he's going to have an impact on your team," Julien said. "That's why you put him in the lineup. I'm one of the first guys to challenge players to prove me wrong, and that was his challenge tonight. If he felt he should have been playing before, it was up to him to prove me wrong, and that's what he did tonight."

Price turned aside 19 shots for Montreal.