NHL: Sharks win, take 3-1 lead

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Ryane Clowe scored two goals, Jason Demers added another in the second period and the San Jose Sharks beat the Los Angeles Kings 6-3 on Thursday night to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.

Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski scored in a 54-second span early in the third and Torrey Mitchell followed with his first goal of the playoffs to extend the Sharks' lead.

They return to San Jose for Game 5 on Saturday night having swept the Kings on their home ice.

The Kings had a 5-on-3 for much of the final 3 minutes after Dany Heatley was penalized for cross-checking and Scott Nichol got a 10-minute misconduct, but they failed to convert. The frustrated Kings got two 10-minute misconducts themselves in the closing seconds.

The teams combined for five goals in the second - two fewer than they scored in the middle period in Game 3, when the Kings blew a four-goal lead to lose 6-5 in their second overtime defeat of the series.

Antti Niemi made 35 saves while back in goal for the Sharks after being pulled for giving up four consecutive goals to the Kings before their collapse Tuesday.

Jonathan Quick was solid in the first period for Los Angeles, but soon fell apart in losing his second straight. He stopped 21 shots.

BRUINS 5, CANADIENS 4

MONTREAL (AP) - Michael Ryder scored 1:59 into overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 5-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night, tying the first-round series 2-2.

Ryder, the former Canadiens winger who also scored in the second period, took Chris Kelly's pass from behind the net and shot past Carey Price to give Boston its second victory in a row at the Bell Centre after the Bruins dropped the first two games of the series at home.

BLACKHAWKS 5,

CANUCKS 0

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - Defenseman Duncan Keith had two goals and two assists and the Chicago Blackhawks stayed alive in their Stanley Cup title defense.

Marian Hossa, with his first two goals of the series, and Patrick Kane, with his first, also scored, and rookie Corey Crawford made 36 saves for his first playoff shutout.

Since losing the first three games of the best-of-seven series, Chicago has dominated a Canucks team that it eliminated from the playoffs the last two seasons.

The Blackhawks won the fourth game 7-2 in Chicago.