WASHINGTON -- A little past midnight in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, Clayton Kershaw emerged from the bullpen to pitch in relief for the first time in seven years.Two outs later, the only save of his major league career in the books, Kershaws arms were raised and teammates were rushing to celebrate with a guy whose postseason performances have never carried the luster of his regular-season success.Coming in after closer Kenley Jansen entered in the seventh inning and threw a career-high 51 pitches but issued a pair of one-out walks in the ninth, Kershaw got Daniel Murphy to pop out, then struck out Wilmer Difo to end it.That finished the Los Angeles Dodgers dramatic 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals that decided their NLDS in the wee hours of Friday.The adrenaline rush was pretty good right there, said Kershaw, who approached Dodgers manager Dave Roberts in the seventh inning to offer to pitch if need be on the must-win occasion.At the at the end of the day, if we dont win that game, were going home, anyway, so what does it matter? Kershaw said. I just wanted to be available, and it ended up to the point where I could help out tonight.The Dodgers won the last two games of the best-of-five NLDS with Kershaw pitching in each and now head to the NL Championship Series to face the Chicago Cubs. That opens at Wrigley Field on Saturday night.The Nationals, meanwhile, still have never won a postseason series, winning three NL East titles in the past five years but losing in the NLDS each time.And while theres no way Kershaw will be available for Game 1 against Chicago, one things for sure: Whatever notion there might have been about the leftys playoff problems -- he was 2-6 in the postseason until this series, with an ERA nearly twice what he has in the regular season -- is now a thing of the past.That (criticism) is ridiculous, Dodgers president Stan Kasten said, his dress shirt soaked with alcohol from the postgame festivities. Thats why I said to him, Dude, youre Mr. October.Kershaw worked two days after throwing 110 pitches over 6 2/3 innings in Game 4, when he had the benefit of only three days rest following his win in the opener against the Nationals.Nobody wants it more than him -- his tireless work ethic and how much he competes. And just for him to go up and tell them, Hey, I can come in and close this thing out if you need me, just says so much about the type of player he is, said Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, whose two-run triple in the seventh helped L.A. build its lead. Hes a winner. Hes a champion.How unanticipated was Kershaws work as a reliever? Several hours before Thursdays game began, Roberts was asked whether Kershaw might be available at all -- maybe for just one out, say?No, came Roberts reply. Absolutely not.Turned out the three-time NL Cy Young Award winner would get a pair of outs in his first relief appearance since the 2009 playoffs.Clayton came to me in the seventh, Roberts said, and said that he had an inning if I needed it.Kershaw came in after Jansen got a career-high seven outs. Jansen walked Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth with one out in the ninth -- and thats when Roberts went to Kershaw.Kershaw wound up with his second pro save. His other came on Aug. 19, 2006, in the Gulf Coast League in a game against the Nationals rookie club.And Kershaws catcher that day a decade ago?Amazingly, none other than Jansen, who didnt begin pitching professionally until three years later.Jansen said he couldnt recall that particular game. He assured everyone hell never forget this one. When Kershaw walked from the dugout to the bullpen before removing his blue jacket to start warming up, he got fist bumps from teammates.In the tunnel that leads from the dugout to the visiting clubhouse, Jansen looked up at a TV and saw Kershaw getting ready to pitch.Im like, Wait a minute. Am I dreaming right now? I couldnt believe it, Jansen said later, just socks on his feet and ski goggles on his head, leaning against a wall in a clubhouse hallway. Im like, Is Kersh warming up? Is he really out there?Sure was.L.A.s scoring all came in a four-run seventh off six Nationals pitchers, including Joc Pedersons homer off Max Scherzer.Its the craziest game Ive ever been a part of, said Scherzer, who took a no-hitter into the fifth. We just didnt get it done. No ones a goat. No one made a crucial misplay. Everybody stepped up and did their game. We just didnt get that extra run.Washington was leading 1-0 in the sixth, when Werth walked and Ryan Zimmerman smacked a two-out double to left. But third-base coach Bob Henley -- whose propensity for waving runners home led to a popular T-shirt among Nationals players that says, Send em short, send em tall, send em one, send em all -- sent Werth and saw him get thrown out easily on shortstop Corey Seagers relay.Wasnt even close.You live and die by those moments, sometimes, Werth said.And in the sort of blink-and-you-missed-it game-shifting sequence, Werths inning-ending, overzealous bid to score was followed immediately by Pedersons homer on Scherzers first -- and, it turned out, only -- pitch of the seventh.That began a rally that included a pinch-hit RBI single by 37-year-old pinch hitter Carlos Ruiz , helping L.A. go up 4-1.Then came pinch hitter Chris Heiseys two-run homer in the Washington seventh.Then came Jansen in an inning that took 66 minutes and included a total of eight pitchers.And then came Kershaw.The West champion Dodgers are back in the NLCS for the first time since 2013, but theyve lost in their previous three trips to that round, failing to make it to the World Series since they won their most recent championship in 1988.And Kershaw had a hand in all three NLDS wins.Looking him in the eye, I felt good about it, and the training staff gave the OK, Roberts said, so its only fitting for Clayton to get the last out right there.MATCHUPThe Cubs were 4-3 against the Dodgers this year. The only other time they met in the postseason was the 2008 NLDS, which L.A. swept.ONE-AND-DONEThe East champion Nationals are one-and-done in the playoffs yet again, losing in the NLDS yet again. Washington was beaten in five games in 2012 by St. Louis and in four games in 2014 by San Francisco. Take it back further, and a baseball club based in the nations capital hasnt won a postseason series since the old Senators were the 1924 World Series champions.Im not ready to go home, Nationals first-year manager Dusty Baker said. I havent been home since February, but I would have gladly stayed a couple more weeks.Marc Rzepczynski was the losing pitcher.YOUNG URIASDodgers LHP Julio Urias, who turned 20 in August, became the youngest pitcher to appear in the postseason since Cincinnatis Don Gullett was 19 in the 1970 World Series, the Dodgers said, citing STATS. Urias entered in the fifth and threw two scoreless innings and got the win. He walked Harper, then picked him off first base.MAKE THE MOVEBefore this year, Roberts was best known in the postseason for his ninth-inning steal as a pinch runner in Game of the 2004 ALCS that sparked Bostons comeback against the Yankees. Hell now also be remembered for his mound maneuvers that won this game -- he used three members of his rotation, plus his closer in a career-long outing.These are conversations that me, the front office, we have daily, about just kind of forward-thinking, being open-minded to how you can use guys in certain roles. And today was a prime example, Roberts said. GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Even with two road points secure, Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien was far from happy Saturday night.This wasnt a game I was accustomed to the last week or so, Julien said after Bostons 2-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes. We cant be satisfied with just two points. We have to be able to play better. We looked like a team that thought it would be an easy night.David Pastrnak got his team-leading 10th goal, Ryan Spooner also scored and Tuukka Rask stopped 31 shots for the Bruins, who have won three of their last four overall and nine straight against Arizona.Boston has not lost to the Coyotes since Oct. 9, 2010, during a season-opening series in Prague.Radim Vrbata scored a power-play goal and Louis Domingue made 27 saves for the Coyotes, who have lost two straight and three of their past four.Its a game of inches and right now were just a little bit behind, Domingue said. Weve got to start with ourselves, look in the mirror and know we can do better. Were last in the league -- were not there now, but weve been there a long time. Weve just got to find common ground and work as a team.Boston dominated play in the first period, generating multiple scoring chances off Coyotes turnovers but failing to score.The Bruins finally broke through to lead 1-0 at 7:54 of the second. David Backes passed from behind the net to Zdeno Chara just above the circles, and Spooner redirected his shot past Domingue for his third goal.Hes got a bomb, Spooner said. I was kind of scared standing there but Im glad it went into the back of the net.Pastrnak made it 2-0 just under two minutes later, taking a pass from Brad Marchand off the right boards and beating Domingue from the top of the righht circle.ddddddddddddPastrnak is tied for second in the league in goals, trailing only Winnipeg rookie Patrik Laine.Marchand had a chance to extend the lead further with 5:27 left in the period but was stopped on a partial breakaway by a Domingue pad save.Vrbata cut the Bruins lead to 2-1 with 7:55 left, firing a shot from the left that bounced off the left post, into Rasks body and back into the net.Arizona mustered only a handful of scoring chances during the first two periods. The Coyotes best chance came early in the second period when Max Domi took control of a rebound in the low slot and pushed the puck flush against the left post before it was cleared.Our execution was just poor, Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. We turned over a lot of pucks and brought some problems on ourselves. We pushed in the third but it wasnt enough.Game notes Vrbata has five points in his last four games. He tied David Ellett for 16th place on the franchises career scoring list with his 299th career point. ... Charas assist was the 400th of his career. ... Coyotes D Michael Stone returned to the lineup after missing six games with an upper-body injury. Stone has missed nine of Arizonas first 13 games because of injury. ... After completing a full practice on Friday, Coyotes G Mike Smith has been upgraded to day-to-day. ... Julien gave his players the morning off Saturday and will do the same Sunday when the Bruins travel to Colorado to complete a back-to-back set against the Avalanche.UP NEXTBruins: Play Sunday night at Colorado.Coyotes: Play at Calgary on Wednesday night. ' ' '