OTTAWA, 17 April 2004 — Jose Theodore made 43 stops and Saku Koivu had a goal and an assist as the Montreal Canadiens trounced the Boston Bruins 5-1 on Thursday to stay alive in their best-of-seven NHL Eastern Conference quarterfinal.

Theodore came up big when the Canadiens needed him most, putting several shaky performances in previous games behind him and forcing a Game Six back in Montreal, with Boston leading 3-2.

“Theodore’s the reason (the Canadiens won),” said Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Hockey Night in Canada analyst Kelly Hrudey. “He was absolutely brilliant.”

Theodore downplayed his performance, however, attributing much of his team’s success to luck: “I played the same way. I just got some lucky breaks. Sometimes I wasn’t seeing the puck, but I was saving it.”

Montreal’s other goals came from Yanic Perreault, Richard Zednik, Craig Rivet, and Alexei Kovalev, who scored the game winner in the second period, redeeming himself for game five when he had a costly giveaway that turned into a Bruins goal in double overtime.

Glen Murray scored the lone goal for the Bruins, who dominated much of the play in the first period but could not get the puck past Theodore.

Game Six was to be played last night at Montreal’s Bell Center.

In Detroit, Henrik Zetterberg had a goal and an assist and Pavel Datsyuk chipped in with two helpers as the Detroit Red Wings dumped the Nashville Predators 4-1 to take a 3-2 series lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal.

Coming off two consecutive road losses, the Red Wings came out flying in front of their home crowd, beating Nashville netminder Tomas Vokoun three times on 15 first period shots.

Brett Hull and Brendan Shanahan each had goals to add to the Wings’ first period assault, while defenseman Nicklaus Lidstrom increased the lead to 4-0 with a power play marker midway through the second.

A goal by Sergei Zholtok late in the period gave the Predators some life, but they came out flat in the third, managing only six shots on goalie Curtis Joseph.

Nashville now face elimination as they were to host Game Six the next day.

In Vancouver, Jarome Iginla and Craig Conroy each had a goal and an assist as the Calgary Flames edged the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 in the pivotal Game Five of their all-Canadian Western Conference quarterfinal.

The win gives the Flames a 3-2 series lead, with Game Six back in Alberta.

Vancouver coach Marc Crawford elected to start third-string goalie Alex Auld over Johan Hedberg, but the gamble did not pay off. Auld was beaten twice on only 20 shots, including a soft goal in the third period when the Flames managed only two shots.

Game Six was slated for last night.

In San Jose, Evgeni Nabokov stopped 21 of 22 shots and Mark Smith scored the game winner midway through the second period as the San Jose Sharks dumped the St. Louis Blues 3-1, winning their best-of-seven series 4-1 and knocking the Blues out of the playoffs.