NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tomas Vokoun won't call his first postseason shutout his most satisfying win. But the Nashville goaltender will admit he's having lots of fun at Detroit's expense.
Vokoun continued his suffocating play by stopping 41 shots and shutting out the Red Wings 3-0 Tuesday night as the Predators evened their first-round series at 2.
Steve Sullivan, Vladimir Orszagh and Greg Johnson each scored and Dan Hamhuis had two assists. Nashville, a 6-year-old franchise, ensured a return visit to Music City for Game 6 on Saturday against the 10-time Stanley Cup winners.
Game 5 is in Detroit on Thursday night.
"It's great. I was happy ... and you want to stay down to earth," Vokoun said. "It's 2-2, and I wish that was a 40 (save) shutout in Game 7 and we won and you could enjoy it more. I'm going to enjoy it. It's great. There's not much better you can do."
Even when it looked like Robert Lang scored for Detroit at 3:41 of the third period, it was waved off for goaltender interference on Tomas Holmstrom.
Not even having the man advantage helped the Red Wings. They went 0-for-5 and now are 1-for-20 in the series.
Sullivan gave Vokoun all the margin he needed, scoring at 10:44 of the first. Orszagh made it 2-0 in the second when he redirected a shot from Hamhuis, and the Predators chased Legace after he gave up a goal off his glove to Johnson at 2:04 of the third.
BRUINS 4, CANADIENS 3 (2OT): Glen Murray took advantage of Alex Kovalev's mistake to score on a breakaway 9:27 into the second overtime for visiting.
Boston, which took a 3-1 series lead, tied it on Mike Knuble's goal with 30.7 seconds left in regulation.
Murray beat goalie Jose Theodore with a wrist shot after Montreal's Kovalev collided with teammate Sheldon Souray in the neutral zone. Kovalev was shaking his hand after appearing to be slashed on the glove and lost sight of the puck - and Souray and Murray.
Canadiens coach Claude Julien said Kovalev made a bad decision.
"I think that when the referees don't call a penalty on a play, you can't stop playing," Julien said. "They decided not to call it and then they collided."
Play continued for several seconds after Knuble's goal. Play was stopped with 22.1 seconds remaining as video replay officials reviewed the play. Knuble put the puck just across the goal line inside the left post before it quickly rebounded out of the net.
Montreal defenseman Stephane Quintal left after getting hooked by Hal Gill and slamming awkwardly into the boards early in the second.
SHARKS 4, BLUES 3: One day after letting St. Louis back into their first-round series, visiting San Jose put the Blues on the brink of elimination.
Unsung Scott Thornton and Alexander Korolyuk each scored his first two goals of the playoffs for San Jose, the No. 2 seed in the West. The Sharks took a 3-1 series lead and can close it out in Game 5 Thursday at home.
"A lot of guys had bounce-back games who might have been surprised by the intensity of a real playoff game," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "They came up spades tonight."
After losing the first two games, the Blues were strong in Game 3, outshooting the Sharks 25-8 in the first two periods of a 4-1 victory. The Sharks regained control in the second in Game 4, spending most of the period in the Blues' end and outshooting them 12-5 while scoring twice to snap a tie at 1.
FLAMES 4, CANUCKS 0: Host Calgary scored four ways - short-handed, power play, even strength and empty net - to tie the West quarterfinal series at 2.
Shean Donovan's high-sticking penalty gave Vancouver a power play with 32 seconds left in the first. But Stephane Yelle scored 58 seconds into the second short-handed, the first of three goals in the period, in which the Flames held a 12-5 shot advantage.
Chris Clark, who assisted on Yelle's goal, scored on the power play 15:34 into the second. Goalie Miikka Kiprusoff saved 20 shots for Calgary.
HASEK SURGERY: Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek will return to the Czech Republic today for groin surgery, which is scheduled for next week. Hasek, 39, came out of retirement this season but played only 14 games this season because of the injury.
