CHRIS KREIDER steered in a pass from Rick Nash 7:03 into overtime, and the New York Rangers stayed alive in the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 4-3 victory over visiting Boston last night.
New York, which erased 2-0 and 3-2 deficits in the critical Game 4 matchup in the Eastern Conference semifinals, still trails the series 3-1. The Rangers will need to win again tomorrow in Boston to force a Game 6 back in Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers, who were outshot 40-32, won a faceoff deep in their zone, and Nash rushed the puck up ice. He stopped above the right circle and fed a hard pass in front that Kreider skated into and tipped past goalie Tuukka Rask for his first goal of the playoffs.
Kreider, who made his NHL debut in last year's playoffs, has six career postseason goals in just 25 games.
"I was lucky enough to play with Rick," Kreider, 22, said. "Just trying to go hard to the net. He's such a talented player. He was able to find my tape, and I tried to put it on net."
Derek Stepan and Brian Boyle scored tying goals in the third period for the Rangers, who even found success on the power play. Carl Hagelin netted New York's first goal of the game in the second period.
Henrik Lundqvist made 37 saves for the Rangers.
Boston got second-period goals from Nathan Horton and rising star Torey Krug to build an early lead. Tyler Seguin's first of the playoffs put the Bruins back on top 3-2 in the third.
Only three teams have lost a series after leading 3-0, but the Bruins are the most recent to do it - in 2010 against the Flyers.
"It's a resilient group," Kreider said. "The tone of the dressing room was the same as positive and upbeat. We're excited to play more hockey."
One more win will put Boston back into the conference finals for the second time in 3 years.
New York coach John Tortorella made desperate moves with his lineup, hoping to find some chemistry to spark his club. Tortorella benched star center Brad Richards, who had just one goal in the playoffs, and rugged forward Arron Asham in favor of seldom-used Kris Newbury and Micheal Haley.
Veteran Roman Hamrlik also played for the first time in these playoffs in place of injured defenseman Anton Stralman, who left Game 3 in the second period.
In another game *
At Detroit, Jakub Kindl's power-play goal in the second period was enough for the Red Wings and Jimmy Howard (28 saves) in a 2-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Detroit leads the series, 3-1, with Game 5 set for tomorrow night in Chicago.
Noteworthy *
The Colorado Avalanche hired Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy as head coach and vice president of hockey operations. Roy joins forces with Joe Sakic, recently promoted to executive vice president of hockey operations. Colorado won two Stanley Cups with the duo on the ice and the organization is hoping they can turn around a struggling franchise.
Roy, 47, becomes the sixth coach in Avalanche history and the 14th in franchise history; the team began as the Quebec Nordiques and moved to Denver before the 1995-96 season. Although he has no NHL coaching experience, Roy did spend the last eight seasons as coach and general manager of the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, winning the 2006 Memorial Cup.
"This is an unbelievable day for me," Roy said. "It's a new and exciting challenge that I am really looking forward to. Almost 10 years to the day that I announced my retirement as a player I am back in Denver and hope the fans are as excited as I am."