Blackhawks stay alive with another rout

NHL playoffs: Defenseman Duncan Keith had two goals and two assists and the Chicago Blackhawks stayed alive in their Stanley Cup title defense, routing Vancouver 5-0 on Thursday night in Vancouver, British Columbia, to cut the Canucks’ lead to 3-2 in the first-round series.

Marian Hossa, with his first two goals of the series, and Patrick Kane, with his first, also scored, and rookie Corey Crawford made 36 saves for his first playoff shutout.

Since losing the first three games of the best-of-7 series, Chicago has dominated a Canucks team that it eliminated from the playoffs the last two seasons.

The Blackhawks won the fourth game 7-2 in Chicago, and return home for Game 6 on Sunday night looking to become the fourth team in NHL history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit.

Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, pulled in the third period of Game 4 after giving up six goals, didn’t make it through the second period this time.

Luongo was pulled after giving up his fourth goal on 12 shots 1:26 into the second period, but it didn’t make a difference. Cory Schneider was beaten by the first shot he saw, Keith’s screened blast from the point.

• Bruins top Habs on road to even series: Michael Ryder scored 1:59 into overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 5-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at Montreal, tying the first-round series 2-2.

Ryder, the former Canadiens winger who also scored in the second period, took Chris Kelly’s pass from behind the net and shot past Carey Price to give Boston its second victory in a row at the Bell Centre after the Bruins dropped the first two games of the Eastern Conference series at home.

The Canadiens blew leads of 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3.

Game 5 is Saturday night in Boston.

• Sharks rout Kings for 3-1 lead: Ryane Clowe scored two goals, Jason Demers added another in the second period and the San Jose Sharks beat the Los Angeles Kings 6-3 in Los Angeles to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.

Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski scored in a 54-second span early in the third and Torrey Mitchell followed with his first goal of the playoffs to extend the Sharks’ lead.

They return to San Jose for Game 5 on Saturday night having swept the Kings on their home ice.

The Kings had a 5-on-3 for much of the final 3 minutes after Dany Heatley was penalized for cross-checking and Scott Nichol got a 10-minute misconduct, but they failed to convert.

Trail Blazers hold off Mavs for first win

NBA playoffs: Wesley Matthews had 25 points and the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the visiting Mavericks 97-92 to narrow Dallas’ lead in the first-round series to 2-1.

Jason Terry had 29 points for the Mavericks, including five 3-pointers.

The Blazers led by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter, but Dirk Nowitzki hit consecutive jumpers to make it 87-81 midway through the period.

Jose Barea’s layup closed the gap to 93-87. LaMarcus Aldridge answered with a jumper for the Blazers, but Nowitzki came back after a free throw with a turnaround jumper to make it 95-90 with 42.8 seconds left.

Jason Kidd made a long jumper with 12.9 seconds to go but Dallas couldn’t get closer.

Game 4 is Saturday in Portland.

• Wade, James spark Heat past 76ers: Dwyane Wade had 32 points and 10 rebounds, LeBron James finished with 24 points and 15 boards and Miami took a 3-0 lead in its first-round series against Philadelphia with a 100-94 victory at Philadelphia.

Chris Bosh scored 19 points for the Heat, who rallied from an early 10-point deficit to move within one win of a sweep of the Eastern Conference series.

Elton Brand had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the 76ers.

Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia.

• Rose delivers in clutch as Bulls take 3-0 lead: Derrick Rose scored 23 points, including the go-ahead layup with 17.8 seconds left, to help Chicago defeat Indiana 88-84 at Indianapolis and take a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.

Rose’s late basket was his only field goal in the second half. He made just 4 of 18 shots as he was blanketed, and at times pummeled, by Indiana’s Paul George and Dahntay Jones. He made up for it by making 13 of 15 free throws. Rose averaged 37.5 points in the first two games of the series.

Luol Deng had 21 points and Kyle Korver added 12 for the Bulls.

Indiana’s Danny Granger had a chance to win it at the end, but he missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds. He led the Pacers with 21 points.

Game 4 is Saturday in Indianapolis.

Birdie string gives Willis Heritage lead

Golf: Garrett Willis had a run of six straight birdies for a 7-under 64 and a one-stroke lead at The Heritage on Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Willis was a shot in front of Arjun Atwal, Matt Bettencourt, Chad Campbell and Tim Herron at Harbour Town Golf Links. Mark Wilson, Camilo Villegas and 2009 Heritage champion Brian Gay were two strokes back.

Luke Donald, the world’s No. 3 player, topped a group at 67.

The round was slowed by a rain delay of more than 2 hours, leaving 18 players who must finish today before starting the second round.