Caps win Game 5 to put Bruins on brink

The Washington Capitals know how good the Boston Bruins are at coming from behind. They're determined to change that -- soon. Troy Brouwer scored on a power play with 1:27 left, giving the Capitals a 4-3 victory yesterday in Boston with a chance to eliminate the defending champions in Game 6 in Washington today.

The Bruins rallied from deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 before Brouwer beat Tim Thomas over the glove with a wrist shot from the right circle. Last year, Boston overcame series deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 in the Stanley Cup finals against Vancouver.

"Everyone knows the fourth win is the hardest," Capitals goalie Braden Holtby said, "but we're not really focusing on whether the Bruins can come back . . . We have a game to win and we have a certain way we want to do it and that's to stick to our systems."

Thomas, last year's postseason MVP and Vezina Trophy winner, knows the Bruins can't rely on past comebacks to start another one. "It's good to know that we've been in tough spots before and responded well," he said. "Having said that, we've got to do that." Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner figures the best way to stop that is to score early. "We've got to come out hard, try to put a little bit of doubt in their minds," he said.

Panthers 3, Devils 0: After spending most of the previous two games watching from the bench, Florida's Jose Theodore sent New Jersey to the brink of elimination. Theodore made 30 saves for his second postseason shutout, Kris Versteeg scored a goal and used a burst of speed to set up another, and the host Panthers moved a win away from their first series triumph in 16 years.

Scottie Upshall and Tomas Kopecky also scored for Florida, which leads the first-round Eastern Conference series 3-2. Martin Brodeur made 30 saves for the Devils, which hosts a win-or-else Game 6 on Tuesday night. If necessary, Game 7 is at Florida on Thursday night.

"A huge win, obviously," Theodore said. "I keep saying this: The next game is always the biggest in the playoffs."

"They did a lot of things better than we did tonight," Devils coach Pete DeBoer said. "It was a good lesson for us. The fourth game is always the toughest to win and we're going to make it as tough as possible."

Blues 3, Sharks 1: Jamie Langenbrunner and David Perron scored in a 45-second span in the third period, as host St. Louis put away San Jose to wrap up their first-round series.

"It was a frustrating [first] two periods," Langenbrunner said. "Obviously we wanted to come out and jump to the lead. We had to push them out of the game. We just stuck with it."

Joe Thornton scored in the final minute of the second period for San Jose, and the Sharks seemingly were in control before the flurry that ended their season. "We competed hard, we just came up on the short end of the stick this time," Thornton said. "Hats off to the Blues, they played great, but it's a terrible feeling right now."

Brian Elliott made 26 saves, and Andy McDonald ended all doubt with an empty-net goal in the final minute.

St. Louis, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, won a playoff series for the first time in a decade.-- AP