MONTREAL -- P.K. Subban has picked the right time of the year to go on an offensive tear. The 2013 Norris Trophy winner had his third straight two-point game with a goal and an assist as the Montreal Canadiens held off the Boston Bruins for a 4-2 victory on Tuesday night to take the lead in their NHL Eastern Conference playoff series. Montreal leads the best-of-seven series 2-1 with Game 4 slated for Thursday night at the Bell Centre. "Were playing well as a team," said Subban, who has 11 points in seven post-season games. "Im just the beneficiary of the guys playing well around me, supporting me. "It starts in goal. Well, it actually starts with our coaching staff and making sure everybody is feeling confident. Were doing it together. It starts with Pricey. From our defence to our forwards. Were sticking together. When we had adversity, were sticking together doing the right things. "Its fun to play on teams where you know guys are going to support you." Lars Eller and fourth-line digger Dale Weise also had a goal and an assist each and Tomas Plekanec scored Montreals other goal. Patrice Bergeron and Andrej Meszaros scored for the Bruins. Subban became the third Canadiens defencemen to have three consecutive games of more than one point in the playoffs, after Larry Robinson in 1978 and 1987 and J.C. Tremblay in 1971. Robinsons 1978 streak stretched to five games. While Montreal has the lead in the series and has wrestled home-ice advantage from the Bruins, the series between the long-time rivals is hardly over. Boston outshot Montreal 28-26, had the Canadiens hemmed in their end for long stretches, and looked nothing like a team that is overmatched and demoralized. But unlike the first two games, they were unable to erase a two-goal Montreal lead as their frantic third-period comeback fell short and Eller ended it with an empty-net goal with three seconds left on the clock. "I dont think we played badly, we just made stupid mistakes that ended up costing us the game," said Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask. "We have to get rid of those, and keep playing like were playing. "Youre three goals behind and its tough. You battle back, but times running out. We have to try to get that lead and play with the lead." For the third straight game in the series, the Canadiens held a 3-1 lead in the third period but, this time they didnt let it slip away. In Game 2 on Saturday in Boston, the Bruins scored four goals in the final 10 minutes for a 5-3 comeback win. This time, they got one back, but it wasnt enough. Rask was pulled with 2:20 left to play. Only four seconds later, Meszaros beat Price with a high shot through traffic off a feed from Milan Lucic. Eller said the Canadiens may finally be getting a hang of retaining the lead. "We learned a little bit from the last game and we didnt panic," said the Danish centre, who has eight points in seven post-season games after a disappointing regular season. "You know they are going to come hard when youre down by two. They gave it all theyve got and we were prepared for it and held strong." "We werent as good as them in the first period and that cost us," countered Bruins forward Jarome Iginla. "After that, we were playing catch-up. "We found a way to get ourselves back in it, but the first period was the biggest difference in the game. We werent as sharp as them early." Canadian anthem singer Ginette Reno had the 21,273 at the Bell Centre at maximum loudness to start the game, but after an early flurry, the Bruins took control of the puck through the first 10 minutes of play. Then Michael Bournival made a gritty play to get the puck around the boards to Subban, who left it for Thomas Vanek for a diagonal pass that gave Plekanec a shot into an open side for his third of the playoffs at 10:57. Subban was sent off for roughing after a high hit on Reilly Smith that also took out Vanek, sending the Austrian to the clinic with an apparent right leg problem. He returned for the second period. "I spoke to him after and he said "Im fine, dont worry about it," said Subban. "I was pretty happy to see him back there skating. Obviously I dont want to hurt my own teammates with a body check, but sometimes that happens." As Subbans penalty ended, Rask neglected to alert his teammates by banging his stick on the ice. That left the defenceman open to collect Ellers pass, go in on a breakaway, put a deke on Rask and score on a low forehand shot at 14:44. Mike Weaver blocked a shot that went to Daniel Briere, who sent Weise in on a breakaway with a pass up the middle. The fourth-line winger beat Rask between the pads for a three-goal lead at 13:52 of the second. But Bergeron won a face-off from Plekanec in the Montreal zone and reached across himself to deflect Torey Krugs point shot past Price with 2:12 left in the middle period. That put the Bruins in comeback mode. But despite pushing hard, they managed only seven third-period shots. "We were very solid playing with the lead," said Montreal coach Michel Therrien, who caused a surprise by tweaking his lines, moving Vanek to the second unit with Plekanec and putting Brendan Gallagher on the top line. "We wanted energy on each line," he said. "Gallagher brings energy to any line he plays on. And Vanek made a heck of a play on the first goal, so I was pleased with the players." Notes: As expected, the Canadiens put Douglas Murray in the lineup for the first time in the post-season in place of Francis Bouillon. Travis Moen went in for Brandon Prust. Ryan White, George Parros and Jarred Tinordi were scratched. . . Gallagher celebrated his 22nd birthday. . . The Bruins made no changes, with Matt Barkowski, Justin Florek and Corey Potter sitting out. Custom Cincinnati Reds Jerseys .com) - NFL owners have unanimously approved the sale of the Buffalo Bills. Cincinnati Reds Gear . On July 27 cyclings best-known race will host "La Course by Le Tour de France" -- a one-day womens competition staged hours before Tour riders race on the same circuit to finish the three-week event on Paris Champs-Elysees. https://www.cheapredsjerseys.us/ . Wiggins, who had been seen as a contender for a podium finish in Paris, was one of about 20 riders caught near the back of the peloton with 38 kilometres to go in the 218-km flat stage from Le Mans to Chateauroux. Reds Jerseys 2020 . Kevin Martin and Kevin Love paced the Timberwolves like they do so often. Martin had 27 points with some key baskets down the stretch, Love had his usual double-double, and the Timberwolves snapped a three-game losing streak with a 112-106 victory Saturday night over the suddenly slipping Dallas Mavericks. Cincinnati Reds Pro Shop .ca MLB Power Rankings, the third consecutive week that the As have held top spot and the third straight week that they have been one ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays.MONTREAL - Rene Bourque had just nine goals and 16 points in 63 regular season games, but the Canadiens forward has become a key cog in Montreals offence during the playoffs. A trade bait name brought up over and over again on local radio, web message boards and social media all season, Bourque netted his first career playoff hat trick in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final Tuesday, giving him eight goals and 11 points in 16 playoffs games and helping his team stave off elimination with a 7-4 victory over the New York Rangers. A while his sudden emergence as a scoring threat in the playoffs has surprised many, its nothing new to his teammates. Despite his regular season struggles, they never doubted the 62, 217-pound power forward would shine through when it mattered most. "Ive said it before and Ill say it again, hes got world class speed and a world class shot and its showing right now in the playoffs," said forward Max Pacioretty, who also chipped in Tuesday night with a goal and an assist. "Hes a bigger body and he plays a simple game and that suits him well in the playoffs. Its a great time for him to step up and he was huge tonight, he helped out a lot." After the Canadiens blew a 4-1 lead in the second period on Tuesday night, Bourque halted the Rangers comeback scoring his second goal of the game at 15:10 of the second period to make the score 5-4 and give Montreal a lead they wouldnt relinquish. Bourque then added another goal at 6:33 of the third period to complete the hat trick and help the Canadiens avoid elimination for the third time in these Stanley Cup playoffs. Montreal will try to repeat the feat for a fourth time in Game 6 in New York on Thursday and force a Game 7 back in Montreal on Saturday. "Even going back to last year, he just loves this time of year," said forward Brendan Gallagher. "Hes leading by example again. For him to go out there and score not only three goals but very timely goals was big. Anytime you give up the lead like that and can come right back and score thats big. Thats what clutch guys do at this time of year, they score timely goals.&" Since being acquired from Calgary two years ago in a trade that saw popular scorer Michael Cammalleri go the other way, many have doubted Bourques role on this team.dddddddddddd But not Gallagher and his teammates. They saw a hard-working character player that could come up big when it mattered most. "You just gotta understand the character he has," Gallagher explained. "Hes big. Hes a guy that we rely on. He showed up and thats what we expect from him. Hes a competitor. He loves the atmosphere and he loves the opportunity we have right now and thats kind of expected from him." Michel Therrien was also thrilled with Bourques performance. "He played a great game; he was a force out there," the Canadiens head coach said. "On the forecheck, he took the man. He was moving his feet. He was going hard to the map mat. Hes a very good scorer, so definitely that was a great performance by him." The always quite and humble Bourque wasnt about to take all the credit though. "Everybody was ready for this game," he said after the game. "We knew the situation. We got a big power-play goal early and a few others. "It was just a see-saw battle back and forth. (Dale) Weise made a great play to me. I called for the puck and somehow it got through. It was nice to get in there." The pucks have gotten through for Bourque just one less time than they did in the regular season and the Canadiens are hoping his clutch run continues as they try to come back from what is now a one-game deficit. James Murphy is a freelance reporter who also writes for NHL.com, the Boston Herald and XNsports.com. He covered the Boston Bruins/NHL for last 11 seasons writing for ESPNBoston.com, ESPN.com, NHL.com, NESN.com, the Boston Metro, Insidehockey.com and Le Hockey Magazine. Murphy also currently hosts the radio show "Murphys Hockey Law" heard Saturdays 9-11 AM ET on Sirius/XM NHL Network Radio and 4-6 PM ET on Websportsmedia.com. In addition to that, he is a regular guest TSN 690 in Montreal and Sirius/XM NHL Network Radio as well as a hockey analyst on CTV Montreal. ' ' '