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[*]MONTREAL -- The Montreal Canadiens swept their way into the second round of the NHL playoffs, but not before the Tampa Bay Lightning made it interesting. After the Canadiens blew a two-goal lead early in the third period, Max Pacioretty scored on a power play with 43 seconds left to play to lift them to a 4-3 victory and a sweep of their Eastern Conference quarter-final against the Lightning on Tuesday night. "Its a great feeling," said Pacioretty, a 39-goal scorer in the regular season who got his first of the series. "Ive been in a bit of a drought since the end of the year. "Ive been getting opportunities and missing my chances. But you wait for that bounce and I got it." Montreal won the best-of-seven series 4-0 and now face a long wait for the Eastern Conference semifinal against the winner of the Boston-Detroit series. Pacioretty, who played for the United States at the Sochi Olympics in February, is glad for the rest. "Going to Sochi and not having much time off, I feel this is going to be a good chance for me to get in the weight room and find some strength for round two," he said. "We have to take advantage of it and try to stay sharp as a group at the same time," added Canadiens captain Brian Gionta. It was Montreals first sweep since they took out the Buffalo Sabres in four in 1993 en route to the last of their 24 Stanley Cups. The Canadiens built a 3-1 lead on goals from Daniel Briere, Lars Eller and Brendan Gallagher between one by Tampa Bays Ondrej Palat. But the Bolts amped up the pressure in the third period and tied the game through Victor Hedman and Tyler Johnson. The officials had swallowed their whistles through most of the third frame, but referee Chris Lee was left with little choice with Cedric Paquettes clear trip on Michael Bournival with 2:11 left to play, a foul that could have caused an even more controversial turnover. Pacioretty was at the doorstep to whack a Thomas Vanek rebound past Kristers Gudlevskis for the game-winner. "Im not going to worry too much about that penalty," said the rookie Paquette, who had been a ball of energy for Tampa Bay all game. "They didnt call anything all game long. It just happened at the wrong time. He fell, and they called it. Ill just have to learn from that." Lightning star Steven Stamkos didnt like the call either, but didnt dispute the Canadiens had the better of the play for most of the series against the rookie-laden Bolts lineup. "We played like we had nothing to lose in the third," said Stamkos. "We were the better team. "It was tough to see a penalty called at that time in the game. I thought the referees did a good job of putting their whistles away and letting us play in the third. But a play 200 feet from our net gets called. Its a tough way to lose -- a power play goal with under a minute left to play in the game. "But we learned a lot about what it takes to win in the playoffs. Lets not kid ourselves: they were the better team for most of the series." For a second straight game, the Bell Centre was at a fever pitch with old-time pop star Ginette Reno singing the Canadian anthem. But while it took Rene Bourque only 11 seconds in to score the first goal in Game 3, this time it took 2:24 for Briere to open the scoring. The Lightning defence abandoned the front of their net to chase Dale Weise in a corner and left Briere alone in front to score his first of the series and 51st playoff goal of his career. The 36-year-old Briere, whose mother played Reno records in their home when he was growing up, had shaken hands with the Quebec pop diva as she left the ice. "I guess she gave me a little energy when she walked off the ice and shook my hand," said Briere. "It worked on the first shift. "Maybe we could get a little seat for her right by the bench so she can touch all the guys." The Canadiens had a 15-6 shot advantage in the period and made it 2-0 when Gionta picked Paquettes pocket in the neutral zone and sent Eller in on the left side to blast a low shot past Anders Lindback. The Lightning caught a break while killing a penalty at 4:32 of the second frame when Alexei Emelin misplayed a puck behind the net and Palat swept around and pushed the puck in among a pile-up of players. The goal stood up to video review. But only 1:10 later, Tomas Plekenec sent Gallagher in on the right side to wrist a shot in off the post to restore the two-goal lead. The 21-year-old has five goals in nine career playoff games. That chased Lindback, who allowed three goals on 20 shots, in favour of Gudlevskis, who made 16 saves before Pacioretty finally beat him. There were flashbacks to Sochi as Gudlevskis was the goalie who threw a scare into Canada with a 55-save effort in Latvias 2-1 defeat. Carey Price was to goalie in the opposite net in that game as well. "Hes a very good goaltender," said Price. "He made a few good stops, but we were hungry and found a way to put one in. "They were playing desperate. They came at us with a lot of speed. Desperate teams tend to get more breaks, for some reason." Added Pacioretty of Gudlevskis: "It would have been a nice story. Hes a competitor and hes had a lot of success this year. My job was the make sure it wouldnt be a story and it didnt change the series." The Lightning poured it on in the third and Hedman scored at 3:29 by banking a shot in off Price from behind the net. Three minutes later, J.T. Brown threw a pass in front that went off P.K. Subbans skate right to Johnson for a goal on a quick shot from close range. Then Pacioretty ended it, giving each of Montreals four lines one goal. It was only the second power play goal of the series for the Canadiens. "I knew I had to step up," Pacioretty said. "Ive been frustrated lately and the only thing that kept me sane was the team winning and other people scoring. "When you realize you can end the series with one shot, that frustration goes away for a brief moment and thats what happened." Notes: The Lightning pulled Radko Gudas, who has a suspected lower body injury, and Tom Pyatt from the lineup and put in Mike Kostka and Keith Aulie. . . Montreal made no changes. Rays Diego Castillo Jersey . Colorado came up big against Chicago last spring, and repeated that performance Tuesday night. Varlamov stopped 36 shots and Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche in a 5-1 victory over the Blackhawks. Rays Jesus Sucre Jersey .The third-seeded Murray, who won here in 2009, will face seventh-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa next on the indoor hard court. http://www.cheapraysjerseysauthentic.co ... ica-jersey. It was the quickest three-goal sequence in Olympic history, with the latter two coming just eight seconds apart. Kessel, Lamoureux and Kendall Coyne all scored twice for the Americans, and Molly Schaus made 10 saves in her Sochi debut. Rays Ryne Stanek Jersey . The club says Fridays surgery was successful. Holiday, a former Eastern Conference All-Star acquired from Philadelphia last summer, has not played because of the shin injury since Jan. Rays Yonny Chirinos Jersey . Floundering in the English Premier League, United has delivered better performances in Europe this season and stunned Bayern by taking the lead against the run of play through Nemanja Vidics header in the 58th minute. Bayern had dominated possession but struggled to create a clear-cut chance before Schweinsteiger arrowed a half-volley high into the net in the 67th to give the German side a slight advantage ahead of the second leg in Munich next week.HOUSTON -- Chris Carter has hit his fair share of no-doubt home runs this season and has never taken more than a second to watch as one began to sail out of the park. That changed on Tuesday night when Houstons slugger hit his 32nd homer, a towering three-run drive in the eighth inning that lifted the Astros to a 4-2 win over the Oakland Athletics. He stood at the plate gazing skyward, still clutching the bat with his left hand until it was clear that the ball was destined for the train tracks atop the wall in left field. "It was just pure excitement right there," he said with a smile. Though reticent to admit it, Carter takes a bit more pleasure in coming up big in games against his former team, which traded him away before last season. Hes done it a lot this season, homering four times in his last five games against the Athletics. Oakland starter Jason Hammel had retired 10 straight batters when he was replaced by Luke Gregerson (3-3) for the eighth inning. Robbie Grossman reached on an error by first baseman Stephen Vogt with one out and Gregerson hit Jose Altuve with a pitch. Carter then connected on a 90 mph fastball to put the Astros on top. "He left one up for me," Carter said. "I was just trying to hit one in the gap there and I got it in the air." Gregerson lamented the pitch to Carter. "I was trying to go sinker, down and away," he said. "It started away, but it just ran all the way across the plate, down and in." Josh Fields (4-6) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win and Chad Qualls did the same in the ninth for his 15th save. The As began the day tied with the Angels for the AL West lead. Carter homered for the second straight game, and leads the majors with 19 since the start of July. Before the game, he received a plaque honouring him as the American League player of the week. His home runs are the most since Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee hit 34 and 32 respectively in 2007. "I tell you what, hes putting togetther some kind of season and the home runs are getting bigger and bigger," Houston manager Bo Porter said.dddddddddddd Carter, who struggled early in the season before heating up, seemed puzzled when asked after the game if this is the best stretch of his career. "Is that a real question," he asked. Told it was, he continued. "No. I dont think theres been a time like that in the majors," he said. "Maybe in the minors but not here." Dexter Fowler hit a solo homer for Houston to cut the lead to one in the fourth inning. Carters shot ruined Hammels best start since joining the Athletics in a trade from the Cubs. He allowed three hits and one run while working on extra rest -- the As skipped his last turn because they had two off-days last week. Dallas Keuchel allowed five hits and two runs in seven innings to remain winless since July 30, a span of five starts. Carters home run let him off the hook for the loss and he enjoyed watching Carter admire his shot. "I was joking with him. I said: Dang, you really watched that one," Keuchel said. "It kind of reminded me of Manny Ramirez with the Red Sox back in the day." TRAINERS ROOM Athletics: Manager Bob Melvin said SS Jed Lowrie (broken right index finger) and INF Nick Punto (hamstring) are both getting better and could be ready for rehabilitation assignments in the next few days. Lowrie was scheduled to play catch on Tuesday and Melvin said theyll see how "fast they can move with him" depending on how that goes. Melvin said Punto isnt able to run at full speed yet, but has been doing everything else. UP NEXT Oakland left-hander Drew Pomeranz will be recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to make his first major league start since June 16. He has struggled in his career against the Astros, going 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA in two appearances against Houston. 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