Halak’s 53 saves lead Canadiens

Jaroslav Halak made 53 saves, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice in the first period for the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens, who stayed alive with a 4-1 victory over the visiting Washington Capitals on Monday night and forced a Game 7 in the first-round Eastern Conference series.

Halak made 18 saves in the first, 14 in the second, and 21 in the third. He came within 4 minutes 50 seconds of his first playoff shutout. Halak, who stopped 37 shots in Friday’s 2-1 victory in Washington, won his second straight start despite the top-seeded Capitals’ 54-22 advantage in shots.

Cammalleri, who opened the scoring in Game 5, put the Canadiens up 1-0 with a power-play goal 7:30 in. He added his second of the game -- and fifth of the series -- at 9:09 to increase the lead to 2-0.

Game 7 is Wednesday night at Washington.

Maxim Lapierre drove a slap shot past Semyon Varlamov from the right side for Montreal’s third goal 3:17 into the third.

Eric Fehr scored his third goal at 15:10 on Washington’s 52nd shot.

Chicago 5, Nashville 3: Jonathan Toews scored a power-play goal to cap a wild first period, and the Blackhawks eliminated the host Predators in six games in a Western Conference series. Chicago won the final three games of the series, setting up a second-round matchup with the Vancouver Canucks for the second consecutive season.

Nashville couldn’t beat Antti Niemi in the final two periods even when getting three power plays within 4:29 of the third. The first period ended with Chicago ahead, 4-3.

Boston 4, Buffalo 3: David Krejci had two goals and one assist as the host Bruins wrapped up the series in six games. Boston, which got 27 saves from Tuukka Rask, will play either Philadelphia or Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

It’s the Bruins’ second playoff series victory -- and first at home -- since 1999.

Mark Recchi had a goal and an assist, and Miroslav Satan also scored for Boston. Ryan Miller made 28 saves for Buffalo.