Bertuzzi Sparks Canucks

Todd Bertuzzi delivered on his promise.

Bertuzzi led a three-goal outburst in the second period and the Vancouver Canucks avoided elimination with a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Friday night at Vancouver, Canada.

St. Louis holds a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series. Game 6 is Sunday in St. Louis.

“It was nice to get that kind of offensive output,” said Bertuzzi, who vowed after the Canucks lost Game 4 that there would be a Game 6. Game 7 would be Tuesday in Vancouver.

Bertuzzi ended a nine-game goal drought by scoring 8:36 into the second period.

Brendan Morrison scored his first of the playoffs with 3:36 left in the second period, and Markus Naslund added his second just more than two minutes later as the Canucks’ top line finally broke through against goalie Chris Osgood.

Naslund, Morrison and Bertuzzi combined for 119 goals and 272 points in the regular season but had only one goal and three assists in the first four games of the playoffs.

“It’s not like we were working not to score,” Bertuzzi said. “We’re trying to work our tails off to get the goals. We’ve been getting our chances and they just haven’t been going in, and, as a goal scorer, you understand if you’re getting those chances they’re bound to go in.”

Brent Sopel also scored for the Canucks.

Martin Rucinsky scored with 55.5 seconds left to pull the Blues within one, but Sami Salo restored the two-goal cushion just more than seven seconds later with a slap shot from the top of the circle.

“They threw everything they could at us, and we were right there at the end so we feel good about ourselves,” said Doug Weight, who set up both St. Louis goals in the third period. Tyson Nash and Cory Stillman also scored for the Blues.

Tampa Bay 2, Washington 1 -- Martin St. Louis’ goal and assist at Tampa, Fla., helped the Lightning win its third consecutive playoff game and take a 3-2 series lead.

The Lightning, making its first postseason appearance in seven years, can win a series for the first time in the team’s 11-year history by taking Game 6 Sunday in Washington.

St. Louis, who has four goals and three assists in the last three games, scored off a perfect pass from defenseman Stan Neckar to put the Lightning ahead for good with 8:07 remaining.

Vinny Prospal, assisted by St. Louis, scored in the first period. Nikolai Khabibulin had 22 saves as Tampa Bay became the first home team to win in the series and pushed the Capitals to brink of yet another postseason collapse.

Washington has blown a two-game lead in the playoffs three times since 1992.

Goaltender Olaf Kolzig is 1-4 in postseason games when the Capitals face elimination.