Bruins force Game 7

Marco Sturm kept Boston’s hopes alive when he scored with 2:37 left, and the Bruins overcame three deficits to beat the Canadiens 5-4 Saturday night in Boston and force a seventh game in Montreal.

The Bruins, who lost all 20 previous best-of-7 series in which they trailed 3-1, will try to complete their bid to eliminate the top-seeded Canadiens in Montreal on Monday night.

Sturm scored after rookie goalie Carey Price stopped his first shot but failed to control the rebound. Sturm collected it, skated across the crease from left to right, and a sprawling Price couldn’t get to the other side in time.

So the Bruins still have a chance to win a playoff series for the first time in nine years and complete an improbable comeback despite being seeded eighth in the Eastern Conference.

They took their first lead of the game 4-3 with 4:15 left in the third period on Phil Kessel’s second goal of the game.

But it lasted just 11 seconds until Christopher Higgins scored his second of the game

Five of the six games in the series have been decided by one goal. And Price, outstanding in the first four games, allowed four goals in the third period for the second straight game. On Thursday night, Boston won 5-1 after the score was tied 1-1 after the second period.

Capitals 3, Flyers 2: At Washington, the Capitals stayed alive by knocking Philadelphia off stride early and getting another solid game from goaltender Cristobal Huet, winning Game 5 of their first-round series to pull within 3-2.

Nicklas Backstrom, Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Semin scored the goals – one in each period – Huet made 30 saves, and league MVP candidate Alex Ovechkin made up for another frustrating offensive effort by depositing Jim Dowd headfirst into the Philadelphia bench for the highlight hip-check of the game.

Avalanche 2, Wild 1: At Denver, Jose Theodore and Colorado withstood another onslaught from Minnesota for a series-clinching victory.

Theodore stopped 35 shots, including a glove save off Kim Johnsson’s shot with 21 seconds left and the Avs took the series in six games.

The Wild won their first division crown this season, but Minnesota held a lead in the series for only 4 minutes, 31 seconds out of a possible 384:23, and not a single second on this night.