Boston Bruins win second straight 5-4 to level series with Montreal Canadiens - NHL Play-offs
Michael Ryder scored the game-winning goal in over-time to win it for the Boston Bruins as they defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 in game four to tie the Eastern Conference series 2-2 on Thursday at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec.
"I thought it showed a lot of character coming back and battling hard," Boston’s Chris Kelly said. "Timmy made those big saves to give us a fighting chance and we took advantage of it."
Boston’s league leading goalie, Tim Thomas faced nearly the same amount of shots that Montreal’s Carey Price did. Thomas managed to block 34 of 38 attempts while Price fell short on one and deflected 30.
Brent Sopel made the first shot of the match nearly mid-way through the first period. Sopel nailed one in their 15 attempts alone in the first 20 minutes. He fired the puck from the right corner which flew through Thomas before he could even lift his glove
up for the save. The electrified crowd fill silent all of a sudden when Michael Ryder levelled the matchup 2:13 into the second period. Ryder scored the first of the night on a long pass from fellow defensemen Tomas Kaberle and found an open spot inside to
throw it over Price.
After assisting Montreal on their first, Mike Cammalleri scored the second for the Canadiens to take lead one again. Andrei Kostitsyn widened the Montreal gap once again, but the game went back and forth when Andrew Ference and Patrice Bergeron of Boston
scored twice to end the period tied, 3-3.
It all happened in a span of 10 minutes after Kostitsyn had looked to take the match for the home team. After Bergeron’s tying goal, it seemed as if they would have to repeat all of that hard work again in the final period.
Montreal’s highest scoring defensemen P.K. Subban gave his team the lead entering the third period. He took advantage of Boston’s first power-play given to the home team 39 seconds into the third when Bergeron was booked for hooking James Wisniewski. It
sparked another roar of joy from the sell out crowd which was facing up’s and down’s throughout the contest.
Unfortunately for the hosts, Chris Kelly scored with less than seven minutes remaining to force the match into over-time. In the play-offs, over-time is an opportunity for both teams to win it because whoever scores first is declared the winner. Michael
Ryder did exactly that. He scored his second of the night and of the series at a crucial moment to give the visitors the win.
It looks like home-ice advantage does not affect these teams, as both the Canadiens and Bruins won twice on rival turf. They meet up again on Saturday for game five of the Eastern Conference quarter-finals in Boston.
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