NFL: Sturm keeps Bruins hopes alive against Montreal Canadiens

Marco Sturm kept Boston’s hopes alive when he scored with 2 minutes, 37 seconds left and the Bruins overcame three deficits to beat the Canadiens 5-4 and force a seventh game in Montreal in the NHL playoffs on Saturday.

The Bruins, who lost all 20 previous best-of-seven series in which they trailed 3-1, will try to complete their bid to eliminate the top-seeded Canadiens in Montreal today.

Sturm scored after rookie goalie Carey Price stopped his first shot but failed to control the rebound. Sturm collected it, skated across the crease from left to right and a sprawling Price could not get to the other side in time.

So the Bruins still have a chance to win a playoff series for the first time in nine years and complete an improbable comeback.

Capitals 3, Flyers 2

In Washington, the home side stayed alive by knocking Philadelphia off stride early and holding on to the lead with another solid game from goaltender Cristobal Huet.

Nicklas Backstrom, Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Semin scored the goals — one in each period — Huet made 30 saves and league MVP candidate Alex Ovechkin made up for another frustrating offensive effort by depositing Jim Dowd headfirst into the Philadelphia bench for the highlight hip-check of the game.

Vaclav Prospal scored for the Flyers and Derian Hatcher made things interesting when he scored with 4 minutes, 43 seconds remaining — less than one minute after Semin’s power-play goal had given the Capitals a 3-1 lead.