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. 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. Tom Gugliotta Jersey .com) - Blake Griffin led five Clippers in double figures with 24 points and the LA Clippers got back on track with a 101-97 win over the Utah Jazz. Cheap Wizards Jerseys . 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Charles Jones Jersey . His second visit, not so much. Roark (7-5) allowed four runs on 10 hits and one walk over six innings in a 7-2 setback in front of several friends and family members, as the Cubs snapped his personal streak of four consecutive victories on Friday. WASHINGTON -- Ryan Zimmerman came forward to make a head-high running catch on a slicing line drive off the bat of Chase Utley, a routine play that drew a disproportionately grand ovation from the home fans. "Thats almost the awkward part of it," Zimmerman said. "Yeah, I caught the ball. Yeah, like, I can catch a fly ball." He might have been embarrassed by all the fuss, but it was nevertheless a landmark moment in career of the player long considered the face of the Washington Nationals franchise. It was his first putout as an outfielder after more than 1,100 games as a third baseman, part of a good night all around for him and his club Tuesday in a 7-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Jordan Zimmermann rebounded from a mini-slump to throw eight scoreless innings, Zimmerman hit a pair of doubles and handled his two chances with aplomb in left field, and the Nationals moved back to .500 by taking the opener of the three-game series. "Theres nothing like getting into the first game and getting a couple of balls," Zimmerman said. "And getting a couple of hits helped, too." Zimmermann (4-2) allowed five hits and struck out four, recovering well from four middling starts that had raised his usually impeccable ERA to 4.07. He got all the support he needed when the Nationals scored three in the third inning off David Buchanan (1-2), making his third career start. "May was a pretty rough month for me, and hopefully June has better things to come," Zimmermann said. "I wanted to go nine, but eightll be good enough." Zimmerman went 2 for 4 with one RBI after being reinstated before the game following 44 games on the disabled list with a broken right thumb. Of greater interest was his move to the outfield, a switch necessitated by his throwing problems and the need for a strong hitter to play left field while Bryce Harper recovers from thumb surgery. Zimmerman said he was initially hesitant to try the outfield, but he realized his chronic shoulder problems mean his days as a regular third baseman are numbered. Ever the team player, he said he just wanted to help the club win -- even if theres likely not a Gold Glove in it for him, like the one he won playing third in 2009. &"I feel like Im athletic enough to at least blend in," he said.dddddddddddd "And not cause problems." Like many infielders-turned-outfielders before him, he learned the action isnt as fast and furious when stationed 300 feet from home plate. Playing deeper than a usual left fielder and using a glove borrowed from teammate Jayson Werth, he fielded only the liner from Utley and a shallow flyout by Marlon Byrd in the sixth before being removed for defensive replacement Nate McLouth after seven innings. There was no complaint about the lack of work. "That means our pitchers are doing a good job," Zimmerman said. "I just catch what comes to me." Its Zimmermans bat thats really needed by the Nationals, who slumped at the plate for most of last month and have been hovering around .500 in the NL East. They started hitting better in a weekend series against the Texas Rangers, however, and have scored 26 runs in their last four games. Zimmerman doubled to left in the second and to right in the fifth, and each time a black padded glove was brought to him to wear to protect his thumb as he ran the bases. Werth added a two-run double in the third, Denard Span had three hits, and Ian Desmond and Anthony Rendon homered for the Nationals. The Phillies lost their fourth straight and were shut out for the eighth time this season, failing to get any impetus from a pregame team meeting called by manager Ryne Sandberg. Sandberg addressed focus and fundamentals, but theres only so much the manager could do about Zimmermanns mid-90s fastball and debilitating slider. Philadelphia is 9-18 since May 4. "We werent able to get anything going offensively, got shut down by a good pitcher," Sandberg said. "He kind of set the tone for the game." NOTES: The Phillies optioned RHP Phillippe Aumont to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and recalled RHP Ethan Martin from Lehigh Valley. ... Philadelphia signed RHP Jason Marquis to a minor league contract. He will report to Class-A Clearwater for extended spring training. ... Nationals LHP Gio Gonzalez, on the 15-day disabled list with an inflamed pitching shoulder, will make a rehab start with Single-A Potomac on Friday. ' ' '