becomes a long-term thing. You have to take a look at that reg

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. Adidas NMD R1 Tarjous . 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. Adidas Deerupt Ale . - Rookie Kyle Larson will start from the pole position Saturday night in the NASCAR race at Richmond International Raceway after a thunderstorm arrived just in time to wash out qualifying. Adidas Gazelle Kengät .com) - Bradley Beals 22 points and seven rebounds helped the Washington Wizards erase a halftime deficit and top the Utah Jazz, 93-84, on Sunday. http://www.nmdhalvalla.com/adidas-alphabounce-halvalla.html . McCutchen hit his first home run in over a month, doubled twice and scored two runs to help the Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 on Sunday and take three of four from the defending NL West champions.When the clock strikes noon, money will be thrown like crazy ... as usual. Even with the salary cap being set lower than many general managers expected and hoped for at $69 million and whats considered a shallow pool of top-end players available, this unrestricted-free-agent period figures to follow the familiar script of teams bidding up prices to keep up with each other. "You have to be prepared rightly or wrongly to overspend and to give more term than you probably would want to," Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli said on a conference call last week. "That doesnt mean you dont make a good deal, its just the deal is probably pricier than you would like." Bad contracts of years past are being revisited now as theyre bought out, like the Buffalo Sabres getting out from the rest of Ville Leinos deal or the New York Rangers having little choice but to cut ties with Brad Richards. Last years madness included Mike Ribeiro getting $22 million over four seasons, and last week he was bought out. "It is a time where I think the day after some of these contracts are signed, people go, Hmmm, and sit back and think," Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said last week in Philadelphia. "Thats the age were living in. Thats the nature of it." The teams that sign winger Thomas Vanek, centre Paul Stastny, defenceman Matt Niskanen hope their investments prove more sound. Those three players lead the crop, followed by wingers Matt Moulson and Jarome Iginla, centre Dave Bolland, defencemen Christian Ehrhoff and Dan Boyle and goaltenders Ryan Miller and Jonas Hiller. Already, before teams are free to sign players at noon Tuesday, over $1.1 billion has been spent to retain potential unrestricted free agents at an average cost of $3.57 million, according to CapGeek. Many of the top free agents will get more money than that on an annual basis, just based on the market value. Still, Chiarelli believes its possible to spend smart money in free agency. "As long as the expectations are in place and you know the player that youre getting, I wouldnt necessarily call it a bad deal," he said. "It may be in five years if it is a bad deal, but it is something that can help your team and you just have to be cautious of the hysteria that happens." The hysteria started early this year thanks to the new five-day window teams and pending unrestricted free agents have to talk before dealss can get signed. Adidas NMD R2 Ale. . Theyve been free to discuss fits and salary parameters, just not agree verbally or in principle. It seems to have given players more leverage than before because they can consider options rather than make a quick decision on July 1. For teams, the negotiating period is still a work in progress. "Its useful in that you can lay some plans and some groundwork," Toronto Maple Leafs GM Dave Nonis said last week in Philadelphia. "Whether it helps in getting players in or not, I think that remains to be seen.” Compliance buyouts have also changed the landscape, pouring more players like Richards, Ehrhoff, ex-Vancouver Canucks winger David Booth and ex-New Jersey Devils defenceman Anton Volchenkov into the market. Those players can double-dip on pay cheques, while their former teams can allocate the saved salary-cap space elsewhere. The Buffalo Sabres have the most cap space, according to CapGeek, with almost $39 million. They need to spend more than $20 million just to get to the $51-million floor. First-time GM Tim Murray isnt worried about needing to get to the floor, nor is he scared of the perils of free agency. "I dont think its dangerous. I go back to my old cliche: evaluate properly and its never dangerous," Murray said Saturday in Philadelphia. "If you fall in love with the flavour of the week, it could be very dangerous. "But do your homework. Evaluate players properly. Go after the right players, which doesnt mean its the top guy on somebody elses list. Its who you feel is the right guy." The negotiating window has shed some light on the idea that some guys are wanted by a lot of teams. Niskanens agent, Neil Sheehy, said in an email that more than 10 teams had shown interest in the 27-year-old defenceman and that they were planning to pare down that list before Tuesday. Thats a task many of the top free agents and their representatives have been going through because its still very much a players market. "Its kind of the double-edged sword," Cheveldayoff said. "Youre trying to find pieces that can maybe push you and the different depths of the free agent market in different years entices you or maybe doesnt excite you. "But its a way to add and if you can do it reasonably and maybe someone fits in your organization and maybe it becomes a long-term thing. You have to take a look at that regardless of the dollars." Follow @SWhyno on Twitter ' ' '