NHL

• Bruins stay alive with four-goal third period

  
  

  Montreal, QC (Sports Network) - Glen Metropolit scored the first of four Boston goals in the third period, as the Bruins staved off elimination with a 5-1 win over Montreal in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal.

  Marco Sturm, Zdeno Chara, Vladimir Sobotka and Phil Kessel each scored for Boston, which drew within 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. The Bruins had scored only five goals all series, and were shut out in Game 4.

  Andrew Ference and David Krejci each added two assists, while Tim Thomas stopped 31-of-32 shots in the win.

  Carey Price, who made 27 saves in the Game 4 shutout, gave up all five goals on just 24 shots for the Canadiens. Alex Kovalev scored the lone goal for Montreal, which now must travel to Boston on Saturday to try to win the series.

  With the score tied at a goal apiece entering the final period, Boston added two early goals to take control, and eventually turned the game into a runaway win.

  The first came more as a result of Price's error. As the Bruins were pressuring, the puck rolled up the right side of the net, and the Habs goaltender grabbed it with his glove. Price dropped it on the ice as though to clear it from the zone, but a Boston player was right there to shovel it back toward the net. The disc hit the heel of Metropolit's stick, and crossed the goal line at 3:31.

  Then, a little more than two minutes later, the Bruins added their second power-play goal of the night. A shot from the right point from Chara went over Price for a 3-1 Boston lead at 5:49.

  The Canadiens couldn't get much going offensively, though they went on the man-advantage with 5:59 remaining, as Metropolit went to the box for roughing. However, Montreal's chance to get back into the game disappeared in a short-handed goal for the Bruins, by Sturm, with 4:47 on the clock.

  The game was all but sealed at that point, but Sobotka added another tally at 17:48 to account for the final score.

  Montreal took a 1-0 lead in the first period thanks to a persistent effort by Kovalev. The Canadiens forward lost his helmet near the benches after being checked by Chara, but skated on and found himself in the slot when the puck came through. He shoveled the disc on net from there, and it got past Thomas just short of the stanza's midway point.

  Near the end of the stanza, Price made a great play to save a Boston goal. The puck hit off the crossbar, landed in the crease, and started to roll toward the goal line. But Price beat another player to the puck and swatted it away.

  However, the Bruins got to Price at 7:45 of the second frame, while on the power play. Kessel got the rebound of his own shot and wristed it between Price's pads to tie the game, 1-1. Game Notes

  Montreal played without defenseman Mark Streit, while Boston defenseman Aaron Ward was also out of the lineup...Canadiens captain Saku Koivu, who has been out with a broken foot since the end of March, skated Wednesday and Thursday morning.

  04/17 21:59:32 ET