The New York Rangers and Boston Bruins posted tight Game Three away victories to regain control of their Stanley Cup Eastern Conference quarterfinals Monday. In the late game over in the Western Conference, the St Louis Blues maintained the theme of narrow wins for road teams with a 4-3 triumph in San Jose and with that 2-1 series lead. Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist came out on top in a goaltending duel with Craig Anderson in the Canadian capital, stopping 39 shots as the Rangers edged the Ottawa Senators 1-0 to move 2-1 ahead in their best-of-seven series. In the US capital, Zdeno Chara's slap shot whizzed past netminder Braden Holtby with less than two minutes remaining to give the Stanley Cup champion Bruins a 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals and a 2-1 lead in their series. Back on home ice and roused by a raucous sellout crowd, the Senators outshot the Rangers 39-22. The game was a physical one but there were plenty of quality scoring chances at both ends. With less than eight minutes remaining in the third period, the puck bounced off the bottom of the Ottawa goal directly onto the stick of Brian Boyle, who quickly flipped a backhand into the open net. In Washington, Brian Rolston poked in a rebound past Holtby at the start of the final period to break a 2-2 tie and give the Bruins their first lead of the night in front of a stunned red-clad, capacity crowd. However, Washington's Brooks Laich countered with a breakaway goal with six minutes left. With overtime looming, Chara, owner of the hardest shot on record in the NHL's skills competition, unleashed a long-range blast that deflected off the stick of Capitals defenseman Roman Hamrlik and past a helpless Holtby. In San Jose, the Blues's 4-3 road triumph over the Sharks also gave them a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven series. The second-seeded Blues, who were upset at home in the opener but have rallied to win consecutive contests, grabbed a 4-1 advantage early in the third before surviving a late scare. Sharks attackers Colin White and Logan Couture scored in the final few minutes of the game but the home team were unable to force an equalizer. St Louis goaltender Brian Elliott made 26 saves in place of Jaroslav Halak, who suffered a lower-body injury in Game Two, and the Blues head into Thursday's Game Four with their first series lead.
