Bruins 2, Canadiens 1 (2OT)
Nathan Horton scored 9:03 into double overtime as the Boston Bruins secured the first home win of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with a 2-1 triumph over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 on Saturday.
Brad Marchand netted his first postseason goal and Tim Thomas turned aside 44 shots for Boston, which has won two consecutive overtime contests to claim a 3-2 advantage in the series. The Northeast Division champions will look to close out the seventh-seeded Canadiens when the Original Six rivals reconvene in Montreal for Game 6 on Tuesday.
That's quite a turnaround for the Bruins, who dropped the first two contests of the series. Should it win either Game 6 or 7, Boston would secure its first series victory in 27 attempts after dropping the first two contests of the set.
Defenseman Andrew Ference wristed a shot from the left point which was denied by Carey Price, but Horton found the puck at his feet and deposited it into the net for the game-winning goal.
After two scoreless periods, Marchand finally broke through at 4:33 of the third. The 22-year-old Nova Scotia native fed Patrice Bergeron, but the latter's stick snapped and Marchand cleaned up a loose puck on the doorstep and banged it into the net to whip TD Garden into a frenzy.
Jeff Halpern leveled the contest with 6:04 remaining in the third period after accepting Mathieu Darche's centering feed and wristing it past Thomas.
Montreal nearly opened the scoring eight minutes into the first period. With Thomas out of position after confronting Michael Cammalleri on the far wing, former Canadien Michael Ryder used his right glove to deflect Tomas Plekanec's point-blank shot out of harm's way.
Price finished with 49 saves in a losing effort.