Sabres outlast Bruins

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Adam Mair, Jason Pominville, and Mike Grier scored in the first 30 minutes for the Buffalo Sabres, who rebounded from a devastating loss and beat the Boston Bruins 4-1 on Friday night to force a sixth game in the Eastern Conference first-round series.

Boston goalie Tuukka Rask had outplayed Buffalo's Ryan Miller, but only barely, as the Bruins had won three straight tight games. The Sabres broke through early in this one, with Mair scoring on Buffalo's first shot. The Bruins didn't recover.

Johnny Boychuk scored the lone Boston goal late in the third, but Tyler Ennis added an empty-net goal for the Sabres with 1:43 remaining. Game 6 is Monday night in Boston. The Bruins lead the series 3-2.

Miller made 34 saves and was helped at every turn by his teammates, who blocked 19 shots in the first two periods.

Canadiens 2, Capitals 1

WASHINGTON (AP) - Thanks to terrific goaltending by Jaroslav Halak and a pair of early goals, eighth-seeded Montreal ensured Alex Ovechkin and Washington still have work to do in the first round of the playoffs.

Halak made 37 saves in his return to the net, Michael Cammalleri and Travis Moen scored on two of Montreal's first five shots, and the Canadiens beat the top-seeded Capitals in Game 5 to extend their Eastern Conference series.

The Capitals could have closed it out at home, but they will take a 3-2 series lead into Game 6 at Montreal on Monday.

Canadiens coach Jacques Martin went back to Halak - benching Carey Price, who took over in goal during Game 3 and started Game 4. The move worked against the high-flying, NHL-leading offense of the Capitals, as Halak limited Washington to Ovechkin's second-period goal.

Red Wings 4, Coyotes 1

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Jimmy Howard turned in another outstanding performance and Tomas Holmstrom and Pavel Datsyuk each had a goal and an assist as Detroit beat Phoenix and took a 3-2 lead in the first-round Western Conference series.

Holmstrom and Datsyuk scored 1:10 apart midway through the third period to break a 1-all tie to help give Detroit its first series lead. The Red Wings are the first to win consecutive games.

Howard, coming off a shutout, finished with 30 saves, including two huge stops on Martin Hanzal's breakaway with the score tied 1-1.

Henrik Zetterberg scored for the sixth time in the series and Drew Miller had a goal for Detroit, which can close out the series Sunday at home.

Ed Jovanovski scored for Phoenix, and Ilya Bryzgalov had 25 saves.

Canucks 7, Kings 2

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - Mikael Samuelsson scored twice and added an assist, and Vancouver routed Los Angeles to grab a 3-2 series lead.

Daniel Sedin and Samuelsson scored 5 minutes apart in the second period to chase goalie Jonathan Quick. Samuelsson added his playoff-leading seventh goal on a power play in the third to send backup Erik Ersberg back to the bench.

Steve Bernier had two goals, Alexander Edler and Pavol Demitra also scored, and Roberto Luongo made 24 saves for Vancouver. After rallying in the third period to win Game 4 in Los Angeles and avoid a 3-1 series deficit, the Canucks can advance to the second round with a road victory on Sunday.

Henrik Sedin, who led the NHL in regular-season points, set up both second-period goals to knock Quick from the game after he made 17 saves.

Michal Handzus, on a power play, and Fredrik Modin scored for the young Kings, who shook up their bottom three forward lines.