Desperate times call for desperate measures, and for the Montreal Canadiens, that meant playing 60 minutes of gritty hockey.
Trailing 3-2 in their best of seven quarterfinal series against the Boston Bruins, Michael Cammalleri and Brian Gionta scored one goal a piece to lead the Habs to a 2-1 win in Game 6 on Tuesday night in Montreal, forcing Game 7 in Boston on Wednesday night.
Cammalleri put Montreal on top, 1-0, with his goal 10:07 into the first period on a 5-on-3 advantage for the Canadiens following a two-minute minor penalty for too many men on the ice penalty (served by Shawn Thornton) at 8:54 and two-minute minor for slashing by Dennis Seidenberg at 8:58.
Seidenberg knotted the score at 1-1 just 48 seconds into the second period, with assists coming from Chris Kelly and Rich Peverly.
The Bruins suffered another major setback when 30-goal scorer Milan Lucic was ejected from the game following a hit from behind on Montreal's Jaroslav Spacek, resulting in a five-minute major penalty for boarding 4:37 into the second. Lucic also drew a 10-minute game misconduct penalty for the hit at the 4:37 mark.
Gionta netted the go-ahead goal, his first since Game 1 in Boston, 5:48 into the middle period, coming on assists from Scott Gomez and Cammalleri. The goal was the Habs' second 5-on-3 score of the game.
Carey Price returned to invincible form in Game 6, turning away 31 of 32 shots in the victory. His counterpart, the Bruins' Tim Thomas, made 25 saves in the losing effort.
Boston had 32 shots in the loss while Montreal registered 27 shots. The Bruins amassed 25 penalty minute while the Canadiens recorded just six penalty minutes. The Canadiens held a 35-27 advantage in faceoffs won.
The final game of the series will be played at TD Garden in Boston, MA on Wednesday night. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. EDT, and the game can be seen on NESN and heard on WBZ-FM 98.5 The Sports Hub.