Dein erstes Forum » bounds. Trevor Cooney and Ennis each scored 1

NEW YORK -- The goals got uglier as the game wore on, fitting for a playoff contest that was no thing of beauty. But when the dust had settled, and the last puck had bounced in off a Montreal body, the Canadiens were back in the Eastern Conference final against the New York Rangers. Alex Galchenyuks goal 72 seconds into overtime Thursday gave Montreal a 3-2 win on hostile ground, helping the Canadiens get one foot out of their playoff hole. Montreal trails New York two games to one with Game 4 set for Sunday back at Madison Square Garden. Young goalie Dustin Tokarski made 35 saves to keep Montreal in the game, bouncing back from a 3-1 loss in his playoff debut in Game 2 in place of the injured Carey Price. "Dustin Tokarski was phenomenal tonight. Hes a battler, and most important thing, hes a winner," said Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien. "Without Tokarskis performance, probably the result would have been different," he added. Tokarski has a glittering resume outside of the NHL, having won the Calder Cup, the Memorial Cup, world junior championship and even minor hockeys Telus Cup. The native of Humboldt, Sask. was as composed after the game as he was during it, pressed up against a wall and standing on a box while surrounded by a phalanx of media. He was unfazed by the attention, despite having just a dozen NHL games under his belt. "Fun, awesome," he said when asked what his life has been like since taking over the Montreal goal. "I got a few Twitter followers so that was kind of cool." His count was 10,000-plus as of Thursday night. The game was no masterpiece. The officials missed some blatant thuggery and New Yorks Daniel Carcillo may have jostled his way to a suspension after an altercation with a linesman. Tokarskis play wasnt always pretty either but it was effective. He gave up rebounds but the Montreal defence cleaned them up. He clearly grew in confidence as the game wore on, keeping his team in it. "Its been the story all year for us. We find ways (to win), we never quit. Even when people are doubting us," said Montreal forward Daniel Briere, whose late third period goal was cancelled out by an even later one by Chris Kreider that forced the OT. "We dig deep and somehow find a way to come back. Its happened many many times this year. And once again ... We kept telling ourselves we owe Tokarski a win for the way he kept us in, we have to somehow find a way to go get it." In overtime, Henrik Lundqvist made the initial save off Tomas Plekanec but the puck bounced in off the upper torso of an onrushing Galchenyuk. It was a frantic finale to a game that saw three goals in the final four minutes 14 seconds of play. Brieres goal with 3:02 remaining had looked to be the Montreal winner. But with Lundqvist on the New York bench, Kreider tipped in a Dan Girardi shot from an extremely tight angle with 29 seconds left to force overtime. The puck needed help to go in, defecting off the right skate of Canadiens defenceman Alexei Emelin on the way in. Brieres go-ahead goal was equally fortuitous. Lundqvist made a fine stop on a Thomas Vanek shot from in-close. But the puck went to Briere who tucked it back around the post and off the trailing leg of Ryan McDonagh. Tokarski came up big for the Canadiens, keeping the visitors in a game where New York held the upper hand for long periods. Given the ramifications of a third straight Montreal loss, it was a tremendously timely performance. "Its a big win for him. Its a big win for us," said Montreal defenceman P.K. Subban. "This is a huge confidence-booster for our team," he added, Andrei Markov also scored for Montreal, which was outshot 36-33 during regulation time. Carl Hagelin opened the scoring for New York, which had won its five previous playoff games. Emotions ran high from the opening puck drop and former Ranger Brandon Prust applied a match to the fuse just three minutes in when he laid out New York forward Derek Stepan with an elbow/shoulder to the head at the New York blue-line. The officials, watching the play develop ahead, apparently did not see the blow which left Stepan face down on the ice and sent him briefly to the locker-room. "They missed it," said Rangers coach Alain Vigneault. The unpenalized Prust hit led to some frontier justice with Prust and Derek Dorsett fighting after Carcillo took a run at the feisty Hab at 5:51. Carcillo had to be held back as the fight went on, prompting a game misconduct for jostling linesman Scott Driscoll. The league looks poorly on such behaviour and Carcillo could face a lengthy suspension. "Well, he cant do that, obviously, what he did there, but well let the league handle that," Vigneault said. "I believe if a penalty would have been called on Prust, that probably wouldnt have happened, but theres nothing we can do about it." The amped-up crowd starting chanting "These refs suck" and enjoyed what they undoubtedly saw as karma when a Rangers shot nicked one of the referees on the ensuing power play. New York came out fast and led 1-0 after a dominant 20 minutes. But the Canadiens pushed back in the second to tie it up. "For the most part I thought we played a good game. We had some real good looks," said Vigneault. "We had opportunities to take the lead in the game and we didnt. Give credit to (Montreal), their team played hard, their goaltender played well." Montreal had little right to be on even terms going into the third. But thanks to Tokarski the Canadiens were, setting the stage for a tense finale. "We weathered the storm," said Therrien. "I felt our team played with more confidence as the game went on." Dale Weise was almost the hero for the Canadiens with five minute remaining, when an errant clearance went right to him in front of Lundqvist. But the Swedish star goalie stopped his blast from point-blank range. Tokarski stopped 27 of 30 shots in Game 2 -- his 11th NHL game and first playoff outing. And he was busy from the get-go Thursday, keeping the Habs in it with a string of saves. There was less action at the other end although Lundqvists 25-shot night was challenging at times. Coming into Game 3, Lundqvist had saved 162 of 168 shots during the Rangers five-game playoff win streak. And he stopped 60 of the 63 shots he faced in the first two games in Montreal, won 7-2 and 3-1 by the Rangers. Therrien shuffled his lines, moving winger Brian Gionta up to the second line, Weise to the third and dropping the mercurial Vanek to the fourth. Vanek came into the game with no points, one shot, two penalty minutes and a minus-3 in the first two games of the series. The Rangers outshot Montreal 14-4 in the first period, firing pucks from all angles and using their speed to good effect. The Canadiens were lucky not to be down by more when the dust settled, with Tokarski getting the job done one way or another. New Yorks early onslaught came despite winning just seven of 22 faceoffs in the period. The home breakthrough came on the Rangers 12th shot, courtesy of a two-on-one after a Subban shot hit Hagelin and created a two-on-one. Hagelin and Martin St. Louis advanced on defenceman Josh Gorges with Hagelin delaying his pass until the last moment before feeding St. Louis for a one-timer. A sliding Georges, who was virtually on top of Tokarski, somehow stopped the puck but it bounced into the air and Hagelin knocked it in from mid-air at 15:18. Montreal struck back at 3:20 of the second period after a seeing-eye pass across the New York zone from Max Pacioretty found Markov creeping in from the point and the defenceman beat Lundqvist with a low shot. Tokarski made big saves before and after the scoring play to keep the Habs in it. He stopped St. Louis on the doorstep, somehow getting his pad and glove up to stop the Ranger sniper. The shots were 13-9 in favour of New York in the period. NOTES -- Sting, Michael J. Fox, Susan Sarandon and Catherine Keener were among the celebrities in the crowd ... The game came one year to the day that Rangers coach Alain Vigneault was fired by the Vancouver Canucks. Gregory Polanco Pirates Jersey . The Brazilian international goalkeeper was beaten twice in the first 12 minutes of his Reds debut in a 3-1 preseason loss to Columbus Crew in Florida earlier this week. Roberto Clemente Jersey . -- Chicago manager Darold Butler has a message for the Windy City. http://www.pittsburghpiratesprostore.us/Francisco-Cervelli-pirates-jersey/ . -- Two nights after losing to the Eastern Conferences worst team, the Phoenix Coyotes handled the best. Kent Tekulve Jersey . -- Ryan Millers debut for the St. Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys . HEROES Alex Ovechkin – Scored a pair of goals in Washington’s 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. With 13 goals in the past 13 games, Ovechkin now has 29 goals on the season to lead the league. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Coach K said he hoped this game would live up to its billing. It did, and then some. Jerami Grant scored eight points in overtime to finish with a career-high 24 and Jim Boeheims No. 2 Syracuse stayed unbeaten, topping Mike Krzyzewskis No. 17 Duke 91-89 on Saturday in a matchup of the two winningest coaches in Division I history. The Orange withstood a tying 3-pointer in regulation and won before a Carrier Dome record crowd of 35,446. "It was just a great game," Boeheim said after career victory No. 941. "I dont think Ive ever been involved in a better game in here where both teams played at such a high level. Both teams just went after it. Weve had a lot of games that have been here that are great. Theres never been one as good as this one." C.J. Fair scored a career-best 28 points as Syracuse (21-0, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) set a school record for consecutive wins to start a season. The Orange remained one of three undefeated teams in the nation, along with No. 1 Arizona and No. 4 Wichita State. "I knew for us to win I would have to contribute offensively," said Fair, who shot 12 of 20. "I was able to not force things once I got going. I felt I was the hot hand and my teammates kept giving me the ball." Grant took over in the extra period, slamming home three dunks as Duke was forced to downsize after Jabari Parker and Amile Jefferson fouled out in the final two minutes of regulation. "They were playing small. We knew we had a lot of mismatches around the court," Grant said. "After I got the first dunk, they just kept feeding me." Dukes Rasheed Sulaimon beat the buzzer in regulation with an off-balance 3-pointer that tied it at 78. The Blue Devils led 87-84 with 80 seconds left in overtime before Syracuse rallied. "Both teams played with so much heart," Krzyzewski said. "We were scrambling a lot because of our foul trouble and our kids scrambled well. They scrambled well enough to put us in a position to win ... Just a tough loss." Syracuse students camped out in the bitter cold for nearly two weeks and were part of a crowd that was charged up from the start for the first ACC meeting between these longtime powers. It was Dukes first game against the Orange in the Carrier Dome. Parker had 15 points and nine rebounds for Duke (17-5, 6-3). The Blue Devils, who had won five in a row, get their chance to avenge the loss in three weeks when the teams meet again at Cameron Indoor Stadium. "We just needed one more play, whether it was a rebound or a shot going in," said Andre Dawkins, who scored five points in overtime before fouling out in the final minute. "We just needed one play." From the moment Boeheim and Krzyzewski walked ontoo Jim Boeheim Court to a deafening roar and hugged at midcourt surrounded by a sea of orange, the atmosphere was electric.dddddddddddd Singing and acting star Vanessa Williams, a Syracuse alum and former Miss America, performed the national anthem. The game was chock full of story lines, well before the tipoff. Two Hall of Fame coaches and good friends with a combined 1,914 wins who had only met twice before on opposing benches, each winning once. Boeheims signature 2-3 zone defence vs. Krzyzewskis intense man-to-man. Fair, Syracuses leading scorer, vs. Dawkins, a fifth-year senior who leads the ACC in 3-point shooting. Parker vs. Syracuse point guard Tyler Ennis of Brampton, Ont., two of the most accomplished freshmen in the country. The game was tied at 78 after regulation, and there were two more ties in the extra session. Grant had three straight slams for the Orange, while Dawkins hit a follow and a 3 from the top of the key as Duke took a three-point lead with 1:20 left. Two free throws by Ennis got Syracuse within one and two more by Grant put the Orange up 88-87 with 39 seconds left. Dukes Rodney Hood missed a dunk attempt against Rakeem Christmas with 12.2 seconds remaining -- Hood wanted a foul but nothing was called. Two more free throws by Ennis as Jefferson fouled out made it 90-87. Sulaimon sank a pair of free throws for Duke to make it a one-point game with 9.4 seconds left. Fair made one of two from the foul line with 5.5 seconds to go. Duke scrambled to get off a last shot and Quinn Cook missed a rushed fling from the right wing at the buzzer as Syracuse escaped. Grant had 12 rebounds. Trevor Cooney and Ennis each scored 14 points for the Orange. Ennis had nine assists with two turnovers in a game in which both teams committed just eight and Christmas had seven points, 10 rebounds and six of Syracuses nine blocks. Sulaimon finished with 16 points. Jefferson, Dawkins, and Hood finished with 14 points for Duke, which made 15 of 36 on 3s. Syracuse led 38-35 at the break and Fair continued the play that made him the preseason pick for ACC player of the year. Parkers three-point play at 11:05 gave Duke a 56-54 lead, its first since just past the midpoint of the opening half. But just when he seemed set to spark the Blue Devils, Parker picked up two quick fouls to give him four and Dawkins was whistled for his fourth just over a minute later. Fair responded by scoring eight points as the Orange went up 66-59 with 6:37 left. Undaunted, Tyler Thornton rescued Duke with three 3-pointers in less than two minutes and Parkers basket underneath tied it at 70-all with 3:53 to play. Sulaimon hit two 3-pointers in the final minute of regulation. He got a chance at a four-point play, but missed the foul shot with 47.6 seconds left. ' ' '