Four-goal outburst powers Caps past Habs

Alexander Ovechkin scored the fourth goal of Washington's second-period outburst, leading the visiting Capitals to a 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens last night and a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference series.

Semyon Varlamov, who got the nod over Jose Theodore, made 26 saves in his first start of the series for Washington, which has won two in a row after losing the opener, 3-2, in overtime.

Boyd Gordon, Brooks Laich and Eric Fehr each scored within a span of 7:27 as the Capitals chased Jaroslav Halak 8:33 into the second.

Tomas Plekanec spoiled Varlamov's shutout bid with a power-play goal 2:25 into the third.

Matt Bradley scored the Capitals' final goal with 44.1 seconds left in the third.

Game 4 is Wednesday night in Montreal.

Varlamov got his second straight win since relieving Theodore early in Game 2.

Theodore, the 2002 Hart Trophy winner as league MVP with the Canadiens, was pulled after allowing goals on Montreal's first two shots Saturday. Varlamov stopped 19 shots the rest of the way for the win in Washington's 6-5 comeback victory in overtime.

Bruins 2, Sabres 1

Patrice Bergeron had the go-ahead goal with a little more than 6 minutes left to give host Boston a 2-1 lead over Buffalo in their series.

Mark Recchi bumped Tim Kennedy off the puck in the right corner behind the Buffalo net and fed it to Bergeron, whose quick shot from the right circle beat Ryan Miller.

The sixth-seeded Bruins are home again for Game 4 Wednesday night.

Mike Grier had given third-seeded Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 6:57 of the first period before Dennis Wideman tied the game less than 9 minutes later.

Miller preserved the tie at 3:12 of the third period with a sprawling glove save on a shot by Michael Ryder.

Brodeur a Vezina finalist

Devils goalie Martin Brodeur is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, joining Miller of the Sabres and Ilya Bryzgalov of the Phoenix Coyotes.

The finalists for the award given to the NHL's top goaltender were announced yesterday. The winner will be unveiled at the league awards show June 23 in Las Vegas.

Miller was the MVP of the Vancouver Olympics, going 9-2-1 and helping Team USA win a silver medal.

Brodeur is a four-time Vezina winner and led all goaltenders in games (77), victories (45) and shutouts (nine) this season.

Bryzgalov helped the Coyotes set franchise records for wins and points in a season.

- AP