Chat » goals against average in his last five starts, didnt let the Capi

The Boston Bruins used a third-period rally to even their series against the Montreal Canadiens, while the Los Angeles Kings scored late to tie before winning in overtime against the Anaheim Ducks. Notes on Bergeron, Marchand, Gorges, Vanek, Gaborik, Doughty, Hiller and more. BRUINS STORM BACK TO TAKE GAME TWO The Boston Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit, scoring four unanswered goals, to win Game Two, 5-3 over the Montreal Canadiens. Midway through the third period, the Canadiens held a 3-1 lead, on the strength of two goals from Thomas Vanek, rebounding nicely from having his ice time cut in Game One, and one from defenceman Mike Weaver. While the Canadiens held a two-goal lead -- which apparently isnt remotely safe in this years playoffs -- they were losing the territorial battle quite handily and the game played out as a microcosm of why shot-based analysis makes sense. Sure, its possible that Carey Price could have continued standing on his head, making great save after great save, but the Bruins carried play, to the tune of 58.4% at even-strength, so odds were against holding them off. Thats not to say it cant happen. It happened in Game One and the Canadiens were 10 minutes away from escaping Boston with a 2-0 series lead, but when one side continues to generate chances, they usually start going in at some point. Which brings us the Bruins line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Reilly Smith; one of the best lines in hockey this season. Bergeron (1 G, 1 A) and Marchand (2 A) each had two points in the third-period comeback, and Smith put the exclamation point on it, burying the winning goal with 3:32 remaining. Bergeron now has eight points to lead the Bruins in the postseason. Canadiens D P.K. Subban, who assisted on both of Vaneks goals, lead the Habs with nine points in six playoff games. As for the territorial dominance, it was the Bruins third line that carried the play in that respect. Loui Eriksson and Carl Soderberg were on for 75% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts when they were on the ice. That tilted ice made it difficult for the Canadiens to sustain their lead. For the Habs, D Josh Gorges was a standout, on for 59.1% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts, as the Canadiens only had 34.7% of the 5-on-5 shots with Gorges off the ice. As much as the Canadiens have been dominated, possession-wise (getting 41.0% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts), through the first two games, they have to be satisfied with the results. They picked up a road split and head home for two, but also must realize that they will have to be dramatically better to withstand the onslaught they have faced from Boston. GABORIK DEAL PAYS DIVIDENDS Los Angeles Kings LW Marian Gaborik scored with seven seconds left in the third period to force overtime in Game One against the Anaheim Ducks, then 12:07 into the extra frame, he re-directed a pass from Anze Kopitar past Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller, giving the Kings a 3-2 win. (Thats right, Jonas Hiller, whose last start was April 6, got the Game One start for Anaheim, and stopped 33 of the 36 shots he faced.) Gaborik had two goals and an assist, giving him eight points in eight playoff games, prompting some discussion about his trade deadling acquisition from Columbus. I wrote about the deal at the time, suggesting that the opportunity to play with a dominant possession player like Kopitar would provide a chance for Gaborik to regain his scoring touch. After being held scoreless in his first three games with the Kings, Gaborik has 24 points in 24 (regular season plus playoff) games. Here are the highest-scoring players, with their new teams, among those that moved at this years trade deadline:Ales Hemsky, RW, Ottawa (4 G, 13 A)Marian Gaborik, LW, Los Angeles (5 G, 11 A)Thomas Vanek, RW, Montreal (6 G, 9 A)Brandon Pirri, C, Florida (7 G, 7 A)Matt Moulson, LW, Minnesota (6 G, 7 A)Ryan Callahan, RW, Tampa Bay (6 G, 5 A)Lee Stempniak, RW, Pittsburgh (4 G, 7 A)Calle Jarnkrok, C, Nashville (2 G, 7 A)Martin St. Louis, RW, N.Y. Rangers (1 G, 7 A) Kopitar picked up three assists to move into the playoff scoring lead, with 13 points. With assists on both Ducks goals, Ryan Getzlaf is up to a team-leading nine points in the postseason. With D Robyn Regehr injured in the first period, Kings D Drew Doughty played a game-high 33:06, while Alec Martinez -- who scored the games first goal -- logged a career-high 28:16. Doughty was a possession monster, and the Kings had 64.6% of the 5-on-5 shots when Doughty was on the ice, compared to 44.8% when Doughty was off the ice. Coming into the series, the Kings were expected to hold a decided advantage in puck possession, since they were the leagues best during the regular season, but the Ducks ran neck-and-neck with the Kings. At 5-on-5, they tied with 41 unblocked shot attempts. The Ducks line of Emerson Etem, Nick Bonino and Devante Smith-Pelly was on for more than 60% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts, when they were on the ice, despite starting the vast majority of their shifts in the defensive zone. They feasted on Kings D Slava Voynov, who was at the low-end (44.4%) of the possession spectrum for the Kings. That the Ducks could handle the possession game against Los Angeles was encouraging but, no matter how you slice it, losing a lead in the final 10 seconds is disheartening. Can they recover to salvage a home split in Game Two? Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Alize Johnson Jersey .com) - The Carolina Hurricanes placed defenseman John-Michael Liles on injured reserve Tuesday. Thaddeus Young Jersey . A 23-year-old rookie, Stroman is 4-2 with a 3.44 earned run average in 12 games this season, the past seven of those being starts. He logged the first scoreless outing of his career on Friday versus Oakland in a no-decision. http://www.cheappacersjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-tyreke-evans-jersey . Altidore strained his left hamstring in the Americans opener against Ghana on June 16 and didnt play in their next two games. "We dont know how much because we need to see how hes going, but hes available," U. Victor Oladipo Jersey . The Red Sox maintained a share of the AL wild-card lead Tuesday night, using four home runs to beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-7 and set up a dramatic conclusion to the regular season. The skidding Red Sox were 6-19 this month before rebounding to edge the last-place Orioles. Reggie Miller Jersey . Olsen, who is 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds, can play either centre or guard. The 25-year-old Olsen played 16 games and made four starts in 2012 with the New Orleans Saints.NEWARK, N.J. -- Jaromir Jagr has hit so many NHL milestones this season for the New Jersey Devils that he is starting to downplay them. Jagr tied another one on Friday night, setting up two goals to match former teammate Mario Lemieux for 10th on the NHLs career assists in a 2-1 win that sent the Washington Capitals to their seventh straight loss. Jagrs response to the achievement was expected. "I dont know," the remarkable 41-year-old Czech said. "I dont pay attention." Jagr is having a season that makes it hard not to pay attention. Besides being the Devils leading scorer (16 goals, 26 assists), he has replaced Gordie Howe as the NHLs all-time leader in game-winning goals (122), moved past Mark Messier for seventh place all-time in goals (697) and now tied Lemieux with 1,033 assists, seven behind Marcel Dionne. Jagr was able to joke about the assists, noting: "Im a great goal scorer." He was not thrilled about the game, which was the Devils final one before Sundays outdoor game at Yankee Stadium against the Rangers. "We didnt play well," Jagr said. "Were lucky we got two points. They are struggling and we didnt score when we had the chance. We didnt play very well and it almost cost us a game." Stephen Gionta and Adam Henrique scored for New Jersey and Cory Schneider continue his stellar play in net, stopping 30 shots to give New Jersey its second straight win and points in eight of nine games. Jason Chimera scored for the Capitals, whose seven-game slide is their longest since late 2010. This was the second game they played without All-Star Alex Ovechkin, out with a lower-body injury. "I thought we had them on their heels," Schneider said. "They are a good team and they need points so they came out hard. They have some skill players, even without Ovechkin." Washington, which was starting a season-high five game road trip, has now lost 13 of 16, and it has scored eight goals during the current loosing streak.dddddddddddd The Devils, who had their biggest goal output since 2010 in a 7-1 win over St. Louis on Tuesday, didnt wait long to take the lead against Washington. Capitals defenceman Dmitry Orlov had a puck bounce over his stick in the Devils zone and Gionta pushed the puck to Jagr, who returned it to him. The centre skated the puck into the Washington zone and beat goaltender Michal Neuvirth with a shot from the right circle that somehow squirted through a crease between his elbow and body. Jagrs other assist was marvelous. With the Devils on a power play, they skated the puck up the ice with a string of passes. Jagr took the next to last one from Travis Zajac to the left of Neuvirth and sent a quick cross-crease pass to Henrique for a slam dunk into an empty net. "Once Jags got it, I tried to back off and give myself a little room if the puck bounced," Henrique said. "It was a great play by him. Merry Christmas!" Schneider, who came into the game with a 0.96 goals against average in his last five starts, didnt let the Capitals on the board until Chimera deflected a point shot by John Erskine into the net midway through the final period. Washington had its chances before that. Schneider stopped a short-handed breakaway by Jay Beagle in the second period and Brooks Laich had a shot later in the session hit off the goalpost. "We had three short-handed breakaways and we didnt score," Washington coach Adam Oates said. "He held them in and made the saves when he needed to. We made saves, too. You need execution, and the mistakes are not blatant, but, no mistakes, its still the NHL, and you get burned." Neuvirth was almost as good as Schneider. He finished with 28 saves and was outstanding during the Devils five power plays. NOTES: Giontas third tally of the season ended a 13-game goal drought. ...Washington is 1-of-24 on the power play in the last eight games. ...Chimera played his 300th game for the Capitals. ' ' '