Rene Bourque scored a hat trick to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 7-4 win over the New York Rangers in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Final, staving off elimination for the Habs and sending the series back to New York for Game Six. Carolina Hurricanes Store . Bourque has been a revelation for the Canadiens in the playoffs, scoring eight goals in 16 games after a regular season in which he scored nine goals in 63 games. Bourques career-high in shots-on-goal-per-game during the regular season is 2.95, in 2009-2010; in this years playoffs, hes up to 3.19 per game, so Bourques production, while unusual, isnt being generated by outrageously fluky percentages. The Rangers pulled star G Henrik Lundqvist, after he played 28:58 and allowed four goals on 19 shots, his worst outing of the playoffs (though he allowed four goals on 23 shots in 39:57 during Game Six against Philadelphia). Canadiens C Lars Eller contributed a couple of assists, giving him 13 points in the playoffs, enough to lead all Montreal forwards. If Bourques goal-scoring comes as a surprise based on his regular-season production, so is the case with Eller, who had 26 points in 77 games during the regular season, including six points in his last 35 games. So, yes, Rene Bourque and Lars Eller are the forwards generating the numbers for a team in the Eastern Conference Final. Second-year LW Alex Galchenyuk had a goal and an assist in his fourth playoff game, returning from a knee injury suffered late in the regular season. Veteran Habs D Andrei Markov was beaten a few times, and had the worst possession stats of Montreal defencemen, but also finished the game with three assists, giving him 10 points in 16 playoff games. Canadiens RW Dale Weise chipped in a couple of assists before getting knocked woozy by a John Moore hit in the third period. Weise has put up seven points in 16 playoff games -- not spectacular, particularly considering hes rolling at 31% possession over the past four games, but still useful for a fourth line banger. After having his jaw broken by Brandon Prusts hit in Game Three, Rangers C Derek Stepan returned to the lineup, with facial protection, and scored two goals. Stepan now has 13 points in the playoffs, tying Martin St. Louis for the Rangers team lead. Rangers LW Chris Kreider was the big scorer on the night, with a goal and three assists. Kreider now has 10 points in nine playoff games and he led the Rangers with eight shot attempts in the game. Bourque led the Canadiens with eight attempted shots. Former Habs prospect, now Rangers No. 1 D Ryan McDonagh added two more assists. McDonagh has nine points in five games in his series. He had three points in 14 games through the first two rounds. Rangers RW Rick Nash also had a goal and an assist, giving him five points in five games against Montreal. He had five points in 14 games prior to this series. The Canadiens managed to win a game that they nearly gave away, surrending a 4-1 second-period lead by allowing three goals in 4:24, before Bourque scored his second and third of the night to create some breathing room. The good news for the Habs is that G Dustin Tokarski earned a win stopping 23 of 27 shots, a generally mediocre performance. The reason it ought to be good news is that if the Habs are going to come back from a three-games-to-one deficit, they probably need Tokarski to steal at least one game for them. The clubs have been relatively even in possession terms -- the Rangers hold a 293-to-288 edge in overall shot attempts for the series -- so the point of differentiation could easily be goaltending. The task for the Canadiens is still daunting, as Game Six goes in Manhattan and, despite Game Fives results, the goaltending edge remains with the Rangers. But, if the Habs find a way to get it done in Game Six, returning home for Game Seven would be a most interesting proposition. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Custom Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys . Vonn had another scary moment at Saturdays World Cup downhill in Val dIsere, ending up clutching her knee in pain after losing her balance and missing a gate. But she gave a reassuring answer shortly afterward, saying no new damage had been done to the surgically repaired knee, and that her plans for the Sochi Olympics were still intact. Hurricanes Jerseys China .Two San Francisco radio stations say they wont play the song during the duration of the World Series. A Kansas City, Missouri, station responded with plans to play the Grammy-winning track every hour from 7 a. https://www.cheaphurricanes.com/ . And like the near entirety of last season, Jonathan Bernier and Torontos goaltending tandem is up to the task.NEW YORK -- The visiting Columbus Blue Jackets were the latest team to use the New York Rangers home ice to their advantage. Matt Calvert, Artem Anisimov and David Savard scored in the first 11:10, and the Blue Jackets beat the Rangers 4-2 on Thursday night, sending New York to its fourth straight loss -- all at Madison Square Garden. "I have to say it was a blessing to go from one great organization to another," former Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky said. "Im glad to come in here and come out with a win. "I fired myself up so much." The Rangers, 0-3-1 in the first four games of a nine-game homestand, closed within 3-2 in the third period, but Ryan Johansen pushed Columbus lead back to two goals with 1:32 left. "Being home for nine in a row or whatever it is, its a chance for us to really propel ourselves up the standings," defenceman Dan Girardi said. "Its pretty unfortunate weve lost the first four. Hopefully we can figure out how to salvage the rest of the homestand and bring us back to .500." The Blue Jackets goalie tandem of Curtis McElhinney and Mike McKenna, who are subbing for injured reigning Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky, stopped 32 of 34 shots. Columbus (14-15-3) has won two in a row. Dominic Moore and Girardi scored for New York. Henrik Lundqvist was pulled after he stopped only 10 of 13 shots in the first period. "It was definitely not a good feeling," said Lundqvist, who made his fifth straight start since signing a long contract extension last week. "The biggest thing for me now is believing in what I do and staying confident. "Confidence is such an important thing in this game, and right now its not very high." Cam Talbot relieved Lundqvist and made 13 saves the rest of the way, allowing only Johansens goal between his pads. Columbus grabbed the lead just 38 seconds in on Calverts goal. He took a pass from Cam Atkinson at the blue line and burned defenceman Anton Stralman before ripping a shot that beat Lundqvist high. Anisimov increased the lead to 2-0 with his fourth of the season at 8:46. The former Rangers forward roofed Blake Comeaus feed over Lundqvist. Savards goal nearly eight minutes later pushed Columbus lead to three and ended Luundqvists night. Wholesale Hurricanes Jerseys. "It was a great start," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "Guys were ready for the game, and guys were geared up. There were a lot of subplots going on with this game, and I think the guys knew that. They were focused and energized. It was a great start." Moore got the Rangers within 3-1 at 14:08 with his first of the season. Moore backhanded Brad Richards feed past McElhinney. Girardis second of season at 11:07 of the third was as close as the Rangers (15-17-1) would get. "We need to build off what we did in the second half of the game," forward Brad Richards said. The Rangers generated 18 shots in the last two periods. "We had a push, and right before they score the fourth goal the puck is just lying on the goal line in traffic," Richards said. "When things are going differently, maybe that finds its way in. You get in a jam, its tough. "It seems like everything is going the wrong way, but you have to trust and believe that well have our time with it going that way, too." McElhinney was replaced by McKenna before the start of the second period. The Blue Jackets said McElhinney sustained a lower-body injury in the first period when he made 15 saves. McKenna stopped 17 shots in the final two frames. "You play this game so long," McKenna said. "Ive been in every situation. Im 30 years old. Ive seen it all. You just go in and play your game." NOTES: Rangers D Dylan McIlrath, recalled from Hartford (AHL) on Wednesday, made his NHL debut. McIlrath, the No. 10 pick in the 2010 draft, had seven points and 115 penalty minutes in 24 games with Hartford. ... The game marked the first game back in New York for ex-Rangers Anisimov and Dubinsky. The two, along with defenceman Tim Erixon and a draft pick, were traded to Columbus for Rick Nash, defenceman Steven Delisle and a pick. ... Nash, Richards and Girardi were alternate captains for the Rangers, who were without captain Ryan Callahan. He is expected to be out 4 to 6 weeks because of a knee injury sustained this week. New York D Marc Staal (concussion) missed his second game in a row. ... Columbus killed all three Rangers power plays. ... The new Metropolitan Division rivals will meet twice more this season. ' ' '