VANCOUVER, British Columbia: The Chicago Blackhawks stayed alive in their Stanley Cup title defense, routing the Vancouver Canucks 5-0 Thursday to cut their NHL first-round playoff series deficit to 3-2. Defenseman Duncan Keith had two goals and two assists, Marian Hossa got his first two goals of the series, and Patrick Kane also scored for Chicago, while rookie goaltender Corey Crawford made 36 saves for his first playoff shutout. Since losing the first three games of the best-of-seven series, Chicago has dominated a Canucks team that it eliminated from the playoffs the past two seasons. The Blackhawks return home for Game 6 on Sunday looking to become the fourth team in NHL history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit. Vancouver no longer looks like the team that had the best regular-season record. There are lots of similarities to the squad that was knocked out the past two years while falling apart defensively. 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. Bruins 5, Canadiens 4, OT: In Montreal, Michael Ryder scored 1:59 into overtime to give Boston a victory over Montreal, tying the Eastern Conference 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 back-to-back road wins, having lost the first two games of the series at home. Kelly brought Boston even for the third time in the game, scoring with 6:18 left in the third period. Patrice Bergeron and Andrew Ference added goals for the Bruins. Michael Cammalleri had a goal and two assists for Montreal, and Brent Sopel, Andrei Kostitsyn and P.K. Subban also scored. The Canadiens blew leads of 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3. Game 5 is Saturday in Boston. Sharks 6, Kings 3: In Los Angeles, San Jose took a 3-1 series lead over Los Angeles. Ryane Clowe scored two goals, Jason Demers added another in the second period, 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. The Sharks return to San Jose for Game 5 Saturday having swept the Kings on their home ice. Antti Niemi made 35 saves while back in goal for the Sharks after being pulled in Game 3. Brad Richardson, Justin Williams and Alexei Ponikarovsky scored for the Kings.
