NHL: Montreal 3, Ottawa 1

MONTREAL, May 3 (UPI) -- Ryan White and Brendan Gallagher scored in a span of 53 seconds early in the second period Friday to bring Montreal a 3-1 win over Ottawa.

The Canadiens evened the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series at 1-1, but now must travel to Ottawa for Games 3 and 4 on Sunday and Tuesday.

All of the scoring came in the second period and it was started by the sudden outburst from White and Gallagher. White scored on a backhander 3:20 into the middle stanza.

Ottawa cut its deficit in half on a goal from Milan Michlak, but Michael Ryder restored the two-goal advantage with 1:03 remaining in the period.

Montreal earned the victory despite the absence of captain Brian Gionta, Max Pacioretty and Lars Eller -- all out with injuries.

Eller stayed in a hospital Thursday night after suffering a violent hit to the head by Ottawa defenseman Eric Gryba during the series opener on Thursday. Gryba was handed a two-game suspension by the NHL for the hit.

Carey Price made 29 saves for Montreal after giving up four goals on 31 shots 24 hours earlier. Craig Anderson took the loss while stopping 31 shots.