Playoff Results - Wed, May 14, 2014

Montreal @ Boston 3-1 - Canadiens Win Series 4-3

The Canadiens came into TD Garden looking to advance to the Eastern Conference Final by knocking their biggest rival out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and for the respect that comes with such a victory. They definitely did the first; they think the way they played means they should have the second. Goalie Carey Price made 29 saves, and Dale Weise, Max Pacioretty and Daniel Briere scored in the Canadiens' 3-1 victory against the Bruins in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round on Wednesday. Montreal trailed 3-2 in the best-of-7 series after losing 4-2 in Game 5, but Price allowed one goal in the final 125:58, which featured his 26-save shutout in Game 6. He had a shutout streak of 103:46 snapped when Bruins forward Jarome Iginla scored in the second period Wednesday. Price's level helped the Canadiens return to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2010, when they were knocked out in five games by the Philadelphia Flyers. Montreal will face the New York Rangers for the 15th time in the playoffs, but it's the first meeting between the Original Six clubs since 1996. Game 1 will be Saturday at Bell Centre (1 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, RDS), where Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist hasn't played in since Jan. 15, 2012 or won since March 17, 2009. Iginla scored a power-play goal late in the second period to halve Montreal's 2-0 lead, but Briere scored a power-play goal with 2:53 remaining in regulation with a shot that went in off Bruins captain Zdeno Chara. Briere, who also assisted on Weise's goal 2:18 into the first period that gave Montreal a 1-0 lead, has three goals and four assists in five Game 7s. He was a healthy scratch in Game 5. The Bruins had their chances to tie the game before Briere scored. Iginla was close with 15:37 left in the third period, but his backhand off a rebound hit the left post and caromed away.

Boston's top line of Iginla, David Krejci and Milan Lucic had a nearly 90-second shift in the offensive zone shortly before the 10-minute mark of the third, but Price made two saves before covering the puck for a faceoff. Montreal got a power-play opportunity with 4:31 remaining when Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk was called for interference on Canadiens forward Michael Bournival. The Canadiens, who were 0-for-4 with one shot on goal on the power play to that point, didn't let this one go to waste. Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask made 15 saves. The Bruins scored six goals in their four losses. The Canadiens took a 2-0 lead when Pacioretty scored on a one-timer from the right circle off a feed from David Desharnais at 10:22 of the second period. It was the result of a 31-second shift spent entirely in the Boston zone after Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller was guilty of icing. Brendan Gallagher won the ensuing faceoff cleanly from Patrice Bergeron and the Canadiens were able to keep the puck in thanks to Desharnais and Gallagher. The Bruins helped; Loui Eriksson whiffed on a clearing attempt and Bergeron did the same, leading to a quick 2-on-1 for Desharnais and Pacioretty. Desharnais sent a rolling pass to Pacioretty, who got all of his shot from the right circle to beat Rask on the blocker side. Pacioretty also scored in Game 6 after scoring once in his first nine playoff games. Weise gave Montreal a 1-0 lead 2:18 into the game. The team that scored first was 7-0 in the series. Maybe they will be next season. For now, it's the Canadiens moving on, and demanding respect from everybody, including the Bruins.

Michel Therrien: "To be able to do that accomplishment, to beat the Boston Bruins in Game 7 in their building, I believe those guys have earned some respect. The respect, you've got to earn it, and I thought [Wednesday night], those guys earned it."

Pacioretty: "He's (Price) on a whole other level right now. It's their home building, they had a great crowd and their backs are against the wall, they're in desperation mode and they definitely got the better of us toward the end of the game. That goal by Danny is huge and obviously that was the deal-breaker, but I think you can point the finger to everyone being positive on the bench, the coaches included, and making sure that we had confidence. I think that allowed that to happen. As soon as I see [Desharnais] with it, we know what we're doing. I'm faking like I'm going to the net, and then I'm stopping and the defenseman backs up a bit and he gives me a wide-open net. It's one of those things that linemates are doing work for me and I'm fortunate to put it in the back of the net."

P.K. Subban: "Especially for the guys that have been here and were there in that run in 2010 and who were there when we lost Game 7 [to Boston in the 2011 Conference Quarterfinals], we're just sick and tired of it. Sick and tired of people disrespecting us and not giving us the credit that we deserve. We're a good group of guys in here. We're a character group and I think we earned a lot of respect [Wednesday]. There's nothing better than shutting up everybody here."

Briere: (referring to the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals, when his Flyers erased a 3-0 deficit and won Game 7 in Boston.)"I've had some good moments in this building: the comeback with the Flyers, down 0-3. But this one, I grew up hating the Boston Bruins, so personally it was very special."

Rask: "We did have a great team, but it goes to prove again that winning the regular season doesn't mean anything. [We] played a pretty decent first series [against the Detroit Red Wings], and this series we didn't take that next step and improve our game. That's it. That's just the reality and we have to live with it."

Bergeron: "The first goal definitely sucked the energy out of us and it was hard to get it back. Bottom line, we've got to execute and score. We've definitely got to give them some credit where they deserve it, but we've got to be better."

Anaheim @ Los Angeles 1-2 - Series Tied 3-3

The Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Sucks went two decades without playing each other in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, so it seems natural that the Southern California rivals will go to a Game 7 in the first Freeway Series. After a 99-degree day in Los Angeles, the Kings cooled off the Sucks with a signature defensive effort in a 2-1 win at Staples Center on Wednesday, forcing the teams to make one more trip down Interstate 5 to settle their Western Conference Second Round series. Game 7 is Friday at Honda Center (9 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN, RDS). The winner meets the Chicago Blackhawks in the conference final. Game 7 theater doesn't get much better in a region that hasn't seen the backyard rivalry reach this level. Los Angeles got goals from Trevor Lewis and Jake Muzzin before allowing one on an atypically poor play by goalie Jonathan Quick to snap Anaheim's three-game winning streak. The Kings, who came back from a 3-0 series deficit in the first round against the San Jose Sharks, are 7-1 in elimination games during the past two seasons. Los Angeles is 5-0 in these Stanley Cup Playoffs when leading after two periods after it closed out Anaheim to trigger falling confetti in the last thrilling series installment at Staples Center. The Kings held the Sucks scoreless on five power plays after Anaheim went 4-for-8 in Games 3, 4 and 5, and they held captain Ryan Getzlaf without a point for the first time in the series. Anaheim's 0-for-5 power-play performance actually looked a lot worse. Anaheim forward Andrew Cogliano isn't surprised the teams will play for the 12th time this season and lamented what could have been in a tight defensive game. Anaheim pulled to 2-1 at 15:42 of the second period on a wraparound goal by Kyle Palmieri, who drove down the right side past Jeff Schultz, circled the net and found a gaping net Quick uncharacteristically left open. A turnover at the blue line facilitated the entry. It was an important goal for the Sucks after they controlled play for a stretch only to see 20-year-old rookie goalie John Gibson give up his first bad goal of the playoffs. Lewis skated down left wing with Bryan Allen defending and wristed a low shot that slipped through Gibson at 14:04 for a 2-0 lead. Lewis, who scored six goals in 73 regular-season games, got his fourth of the playoffs. As expected, the Kings began the game heavy on the forecheck and got back to their style on their way to a 1-0 lead after the first period on Muzzin's first goal of the series. It was a foreboding sign for Anaheim because the team that has scored first has won every game of the series. Muzzin snuck in on the back side to snap in Anze Kopitar's pass at 8:16. Gibson didn't have much chance on the play, although the puck went in off his right side. It was the first goal by a Kings defensemen in the series other than Alec Martinez. Los Angeles nearly made it 2-0 when Gibson came out of his crease to clear the puck, but it hit Getzlaf's leg before Marian Gaborik nearly got it on his stick with the net open. Anaheim was outshot 8-5 in the first period, mainly because it couldn't break out properly. The Kings won 15 of 21 faceoffs in the period. Anaheim will need improvement from Getzlaf and Perry in Game 7 after the two combined for two shots and a minus-2 rating. Getzlaf lost 14 of 20 faceoffs. The Kings know they have to shut down Getzlaf and his line; however, they can't do it at the cost of ignoring the Sucks' other lines.

Drew Doughty: "Everyone is going to be excited. The bars will be packed. The arena will be packed. There will be lots of fans watching this one. We're just as excited. We're happy to be in this for California, obviously, but at the same time it is a war out there for us. We want to win and they want to win and it's going to be a good game."

Bruce Boudreau: "It stunk. Did we get any shots on the five attempts? Nothing A-1. We didn't move the puck very well and we didn't support it very well. We've been good for the most part, but it's back to the drawing board with that."

Cogliano: "There's a lot of character guys in both rooms. There's a lot of winners, and there's guys that simply don't want to lose. When you have that, you're going to have a battle. We know they've come back from 3-0 down to San Jose. They were up 2-0 on us and we beat them three times in a row. It's pretty tough to beat them four times. But I thought we were right there. I thought we were one shot away."

Corey Perry: "It's hard to play from behind against these guys, that's why it's important to come out and get that first goal, get the lead and play with the lead. They're a different team when they play from behind. We have to come out in Game 7 and really start with that push that we need and hopefully carry over that first one."

Kopitar: (of Getzlaf) "I wouldn't say we're focusing only on that line, because they have lots of other firepower, but obviously when he's on the ice, they've been hurting us the last couple of games. Maybe we pay attention a little bit more, but you can't respect them too much."