NHL: Lightning put Bears on brink

BOSTON— Dan Girardi scored 3:18 into overtime Friday night to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins and a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The Lightning jumped ahead 2-0 for the second straight game. But this time Boston answered with three straight goals, including a short-handed score by Patrice Bergeron — his second of the game — to break a third-period tie.

Steven Stamkos tied it 3-3 with seven minutes left in regulation. Girardi ended it when he got a stick on a pass from Alex Killorn that was deflected off Brian Gionta’s skate in the crease.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves for the Lightning, who will have a chance to clinch it at home on Sunday.

Tuukka Rask stopped 28 shots for the Bruins.

Two nights after scoring twice in the first 3:19 for a lead they would never relinquish, the Lightning again opened a 2-0 lead. Brayden Point scored about five minutes in when he split defenders Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy at the blue line and then faked out Rask in the crease. WORLDS: Cam Atkinson scored the shootout winner to give the United States a 5-4 win over Canada in the opening game of the world hockey championship.

Canada outshot the U.S. 44-24 but had to come back from two one-goal deficits to force overtime and the shootout.