Canadiens skate closer to series win

NEW YORK: The Montreal Canadiens eked out a 1-0 road win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday to come within a game of advancing to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Patrice Brisebois scored the only goal of the game late in the second period and rookie goalie Carey Price made 27 saves to help the Canadiens take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

In other playoff games, Danny Briere scored twice and had an assist as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Washington Capitals 6-3 to take a 2-1 lead in that series.

In Dallas, Chris Pronger had two goals and an assist as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Dallas Stars 4-2 to register their first win of the postseason. Dallas leads that series 2-1.

In Calgary, Joe Thornton scored with 9.4 seconds left in regulation time, lifting the San Jose Sharks past the Calgary Flames 3-2 to tie the series 2-2.

In the other Western Conference game, the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Minnesota Wild 5-1 to tie their series 2-2.

Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau was full of praise for his young goalie's performance.

"He's been everything we expected and he keeps getting better," Carbonneau told reporters. "He's in a zone.

"He's really strong mentally."

Price is evoking memories of two other rookie goalies - Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy - who led the Canadiens to Stanley Cup championships in their first seasons.

Game 5 is in Montreal on Thursday and a win there would send the top-seeded Canadiens to the second round.

The omens favor Montreal after they notched an 11th win in 12 meetings against the Bruins this season after sweeping all eight regular season games.

The teams battled to a standstill until Brisebois scored on a power play with 42 seconds left in the second period, and that goal held up thanks to Price, who has allowed just five goals in the first four games of the series.

After missing the playoffs last season, the Bruins are now one defeat away from losing in the first round for the third straight time when they've made the postseason. It's just the fourth playoff appearance for the club since 1999.

"Both teams have played hard," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "Three one goal games in a row in this series, there's not much of a difference, but now we can't afford another loss."

Agencies

(China Daily 04/17/2008 page24)