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The Pittsburgh Penguins found a way to solve the seemingly unbeatable Jaroslav Halak Friday night: get Montreal to play some undisciplined hockey.

Sergei Gonchar, Jordan Staal, Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski scored power-play goals to lead the hometown Penguins to a 6-3 victory.

Craig Adams added an even-strength marker and Bill Guerin an empty-netter while captain Sidney Crosby, this year’s NHL playoff scoring leader with 16 points, had two assists.

Halak, who stopped 131 of 134 shots in the final three games of an upset series win over the top-seeded Washington Capitals, was pulled in favour of Carey Price at 14:40 of the third period after allowing five goals on 20 shots.

In a role reversal from the regular season, Pittsburgh’s power play has sprung to life in the first seven games of the Stanley Cup post-season.

After converting 25 per cent of their chances against Ottawa in Round 1, the Penguins went 4-for-4 to open an Eastern Conference semifinal.

More to come

Potential free agent Chris Bosh continues to ponder his future with the Raptors. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

Believe it or not, Toronto Raptors fans could play a role in the choice-making process of impending unrestricted free agent Chris Bosh.

The all-star forward caught many off guard Friday with the following tweet: “Been wanting to question. Where should I go next season and why?”

About an hour later, Bosh posted a second message that read: “Ok … Let me rephrase the question. Should I stay or should I go?”

Bosh is expected to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Toronto Raptors, leaving more than $17 million US on the table, in order to join a free-agent class that could also include LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Amare Stoudemire.

Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo hopes to re-sign his star player and probably has shared those feelings with Bosh since the Raptors were eliminated from the NBA playoff picture this month.

Colangelo offered Bosh a contract extension in January, but he turned it down.

“It’s the largest unknown in our situation right now,” Colangelo said of Bosh’s future in Toronto at a season-ending news conference on April 19. “I fully intend to talk to him … about the possible success that we can have here and why Toronto is the right place for Chris Bosh.”

The Raptors entered the all-star break with a 29-23 record, and thoughts of home-court advantage in Round 1 of the playoffs danced in the heads of fans.

A few weeks later, they were back to the .500 mark and dropped four of five to end the season one game behind Chicago for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Bosh established career highs this season in points-per-game average (24) and rebounds (10.8), was voted to his fifth all-star game and became the franchise leader in scoring and rebounding.

Montreal Canadiens defenceman Andrei Markov, centre, is helped off the ice by a trainer and teammate Josh Gorges (26) after getting checked to the ice by Pittsburghs Matt Cooke Friday night. (Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press)

Montreal Canadiens defenceman Andrei Markov was helped off the ice with an apparent right leg injury after being rammed by Penguins forward Matt Cooke during the first period of the Eastern Conference semifinal playoff game Friday night, while Pittsburgh’s Jordan Staal left the game in the second.

The Canadiens told Hockey Night in Canada during the game that Markov suffered a lower body injury and wouldn’t return.

Markov was skating toward a loose puck in the corner when Cooke levelled him with a hit that was not penalized at 11:46.

Markov’s glove flew high as he dropped to the ice. As several players held and grabbed each other at mid-ice, Markov remained down for several minutes before being helped to a runway leading to the Montreal dressing room.

Markov was putting no weight on his right leg as he left the ice.

The Canadiens lost their best defenceman in the first game of the regular season when Markov had tendons sliced in his left foot by the skate of goalie Carey Price, costing him 35 games.

The Canadiens had a 14-20-3 record this season with Markov out of the lineup, and it was 25-13-7 when Markov was healthy. Prior to this season, the Canadiens had a 6-19-3 mark in games Markov missed since the NHL lockout.

Pittsburgh finished up with a power play because two Canadiens drew roughing penalties.

On March 7, Cooke’s blindside hit terribly injured Bruins forward Marc Savard, who sustained a severe concussion.

Staal injured his right leg during a second-period collision with Montreal defenceman P.K. Subban and didn’t return to the second-round playoff game.

Staal, who scored in the opening period, came up limping on Friday night after Subban accidentally undercut him behind the net. Staal dragged himself to the bench, although he was able to skate off the ice a few minutes later for treatment in the locker-room.

The Penguins forward has never missed a game in four NHL seasons. He has played in 358 consecutive games, counting the playoffs, and 302 in a row during the season.

With files from CBCSports.ca