Bruins pull even in series against Canadiens with 5-4 win in overtime

<p>MONTREAL – Michael Ryder came back to haunt to his old team and put the Boston Bruins back on even terms in their playoff series with the rival Montreal Canadiens.</p> <p>Ryder’s second goal of the game 1:59 into overtime gave the Bruins a come-from-behind 5-4 victory on Thursday night in the wildest and most entertaining game of what had been a tight-checking series.</p> <p>The visitors have won every game of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final, which is tied 2-2 going into Game 5 on Saturday in Boston.</p> <p>”They won two games in our barn and now it’s best-of-three,” said Ryder, who began his career in Montreal under coach Claude Julien, who now coaches the Bruins. ”They’ll come out hard in Boston and we’ll have to be ready.”</p> <p>A 3-on-1 break saw Rich Peverley shoot wide and Chris Kelly slip the rebound off the end boards to Ryder, who was alone at the side of the net.</p> <p>Kelly played the game with a face cage from an injury in Game 3 and turned in a three-point game, including the tying goal that forced overtime at 13:42 of the third period and an assist on the game-winner.</p> <p>The Bruins erased Montreal leads of 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3.</p> <p>”We did a good job of bouncing back,” said Kelly, a former Ottawa Senator picked up late in the season for playoff depth. ”We put ourselves in some tight spots but we got some key saves and that gave us a fighting chance.”</p> <p>The Bruins are trying to win for the first time after dropping the opening two games of a best-of-seven series, while Montreal is trying to avoid losing a series after winning the first two games for the third time since 1996.</p> <p>There was dejection in the Montreal dressing room.</p> <p>”We came out hard and got the lead and then gave them a chance to come back,” said defenceman Hal Gill. ”It’s something we have to be better at.</p> <p>”We can’t sit and pout. We have to find out what we’re doing.”</p> <p>”It was our mistakes and we have to take that out of our game,” said defenceman Jaroslav Spacek, the lone man back when the game winner was scored.</p> <p>”It will be simpler to play on the road. Maybe at home we tried to do too much.”</p> <p>It was a tough night for Montreal captain Brian Gionta and linemate Scott Gomez, who were on the ice for four Boston goals.</p> <p>Rookie P.K. Subban put Montreal ahead with a power-play goal 1:39 into the third period but Ryder slipped a pass to Kelly for the tying goal with 6:18 left to play.</p> <p>Montreal had a late chance on the power play but couldn’t beat veteran goalie Tim Thomas, who was good when he needed to be in a difficult game for goaltenders.</p> <p>It was the first overtime of the series.</p> <p>Michael Cammalleri, who had three points and now has seven in the series, Brent Sopel and Andrei Kostitsyn also scored for Montreal.</p> <p>Andrew Ference and Patrice Bergeron had the other Boston goals.</p> <p>The 21,273 at the Bell Centre were even louder than for Game 3 to start the game and the Canadiens dominated the opening period, outshooting Boston 15-8 and grabbing a 1-0 lead.</p> <p>Thomas made some fine saves, including a beauty on Gionta, but let in a soft one as low-scoring defenceman Sopel’s long shot got under his arm at 8:13.</p> <p>The Bruins tied it 2:13 into the second when Tomas Kaberle sent Ryder in on the right side, shooting a high blast that eluded Price’s glove.</p> <p>Montreal had the arena rocking with two goals in a 55-second span as Cammalleri tapped one in after a wild flurry around Thomas and Kostitsyn went to the net to jam in a Tomas Plekanec feed at 7:47.</p> <p>But Julien called a time out and Boston struck back at 9:59 when Ference followed in a rush to wire a high shot from the high slot.</p> <p>”They scored two quick goals and in this building they had the momentum,” said Julien. ”I just wanted to slow things down and tell them to relax, there’s half a game left to play.</p> <p>”It seemed as the game went on we got better and better and found a way to get back in it.”</p> <p>Ference gave the crowd the middle finger with a gloved hand, which will no doubt draw attention from the league’s disciplinarians. The Boston defenceman apologized later and said his finger got stuck in his glove.</p> <p>”I know it looks bad but I can assure you that’s not a part of who I am,” he said.</p> <p>Bergeron tied it at 17:04 when Carey Price failed to cover his post and Brad Marchand slipped it in front for a shot into an open net.</p> <p>In the first three games, the score had remained 0-0 for a total of only 6:38 due to early goals, and Game 4 marked the first time there were tie scores other than 0-0.</p> <p>Notes: Jeff Halpern, who missed 11 of the last 15 games with an injury, returned to the lineup. Benoit Pouliot was scratched. . . Sopel matched his goal production from last spring when he had one in 22 games for Chicago. . . Ference got his first playoff goal since 2001 with Pittsburgh. . . Boston’s Chris Kelly played in a face cage due to an injury from Game 3. . . Gionta has never missed a playoff game and his streak is now at 90.</p>