MONTREAL -- It is a story of two coaches, one held in the grip of silence, the other done in by the sound of his own voice.

	Wallin

That was the soundtrack of the Carolina Hurricanes' improbable, stunning, come-from-behind 4-3 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens at the Molson Centre on Thursday night. It was capped by a return from a three-goal, third-period deficit and a winner from defenseman Niclas Wallin at 3:14 of the first extra period.

The win evened their Eastern Conference semifinal series 2-2, with Game 5 set for Raleigh, N.C., on Sunday afternoon.

"Before every goal, there's a pause," said Carolina head coach Paul Maurice of Wallin's winner, which came on a wrist shot from the point through traffic. "There's a dead calm that's hard to explain. You can hear a pin drop for a brief second. That's the only thing I remember, is the dead quiet ... then there was a lot of yelling."

It was not a pin that fell Thursday night, but a bag of hammers and it landed squarely on the eighth-seeded Canadiens.

They looked to have the game and, by extension, the series well in hand. They were up 3-0 in the third period with Jose Theodore -- who had given up only four goals in the previous three games and two periods -- in goal.

And then ...

The temper of Montreal coach Michel Therrien -- which got the better of him in the previous series against the Boston Bruins, as well -- put the Habs down two men after a cross-checking penalty was assessed to Montreal defenseman Stephane Quintal at 2:40 of the third period.

	“	There's ways of doing things. You can get away with a bit if you just keep your arms at your sides, but he had his arms up. He'd been warned. ”
		— NHL director of officiating Andy Van Hellemond, on protests by Canadiens coach Michel Therrien

Therrien launched into an arm-waving, expletive-laced tirade in the direction of referee Kerry Fraser and was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Carolina's Sean Hill scored on the power play on a crisp one-timer off a pass from veteran Ron Francis, and the 'Canes were on their way.

"I'm not going to say anything about the call. We all make mistakes," Canadiens captain Saku Koivu said. "We gave up the 5-on-3 and that got them right back in the game. We gave up that power-play goal and that was a turning point."

Therrien had been warned earlier in the game for his verbal abuse, said NHL director of officiating Andy Van Hellemond, who was at the game and met with the officials, as is his custom, after the game.

"Everybody gets a feel for the game. If it happens early, you say enough is enough," Van Hellemond said. "There's ways of doing things. You can get away with a bit if you just keep your arms at your sides, but he had his arms up. He'd been warned."

Therrien said he just let Fraser know "my unhappiness with the call. There was nothing more than usual in that, but that 5-on-3 changed the momentum."

The Hill goal gave the 'Canes some hope.

Carolina stormed Theodore in waves after that and broke through for goals by Bates Battaglia at 12:43 off a turnover at the Montreal blue line and then, with goaltender Arturs Irbe on the bench for an extra attacker, Erik Cole got the equalizer with just 41 seconds left in regulation time off a wild melee in front.

"What alternative did we have?" asked Carolina center Rod Brind'Amour, who assisted on the Battaglia goal, led all players in ice time (27:47) and took 41 of 75 faceoffs. "We've stunk the joint out a few times and that's what we seemed to be doing. You don't always come back, but we had nothing to lose when we were down by three."

Maurice shook things up by replacing starter Kevin Weekes with Irbe for the second period. Weekes was beaten for two goals, the first off a long bouncer that wound up on the stick of Montreal winger Andreas Dackell.

Maurice said the switch was not a reflection on the way Weekes was playing, but was done simply to try and generate some momentum, much in the way he replaced Irbe with Weekes in their first-round win over the New Jersey Devils.

"I have confidence in both goalies," Maurice said.

Therrien, meanwhile, should be second guessed for his use of personnel. He had fourth-liners Bill Lindsay, Gino Odjick, and Andreas Dackell on the ice at the time of Wallin's winner. Lindsay, who has seldom played center, lost the draw to Carolina's Jeff O'Neill.

Therrien had used that line in the game, but it was a little early in overtime to be trotting them out, especially in a crucial defensive situation.

"Coach said we've got to shoot the puck, and that's what I did," said Wallin, who got his first goal of the playoffs. "I think that's the only way we're going to score. Drive the net and get in front."

"We let it slip away and we've got to turn the page," Koivu said. "In the playoffs, you are going to have some adversity, some tough times. You've got to forget it and regroup.

"We can feel sorry for ourselves and lose another game in Carolina Sunday, or we can win and wrap it up back here (Monday)."

To do that, Therrien must learn to control his outbursts.

He couldn't hold his tongue Thursday night.

His Canadiens couldn't hold a lead.

Now their Eastern Conference semifinal is up for grabs.

Chris Stevenson covers the NHL for the Ottawa Sun.