Palat stays hot as Lightning soar, shove Bruins to brink

TORONTO —

Well-rounded winger Ondrej Palat is scoring, reigning MVP Nikita Kucherov is defending, and the Tampa Bay Lightning have taken over their series against the Boston Bruins.

Palat scored two goals to give him four in the past three games, Kucherov was part of a strong defensive effort in the third period, and the Lightning beat the Bruins 3-1 Saturday to grab a 3-1 lead in their second-round series.

From goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy on, Tampa Bay is clicking like the Stanley Cup contender it was supposed to be and stands one victory away from eliminating Boston and moving on to the Eastern Conference final for the second time in three years.

“Right now the guys are feeling it,” coach Jon Cooper said.

“Let’s hope it continues.”

This matchup between the top two, seemingly even, teams in the Atlantic Division has been all Lightning since the Bruins won Game 1. They’ve taken the past three, notably since Palat scored the Game 2 overtime winner.

“We’re playing with confidence,” Palat said. “We don’t cheat on the ice. We’re doing it the right way. We’re staying on the right side of the puck. We try to not turn the puck over, and I think all four lines are playing good hockey.”

Vasilevskiy made 29 saves, and Norris Trophy finalist Victor Hedman scored a pinball, bouncing goal on Boston goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who has started every game since starter Tuukka Rask opted out of the playoffs in the middle of the first round. Halak, who was pulled last time out Wednesday, allowed three goals on 26 shots in Game 4.

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of Palat’s second goal that went over Halak’s glove, “We need that save.” His bigger frustration was a five-minute major penalty called on Nick Ritchie for a questionable hit on Tampa Bay’s Yanni Gourde that paved the way for Hedman’s goal.

■ At Toronto, Matt Martin and Leo Komarov scored in the second period to rally New York to a 2-1 series lead.

Semyon Varlamov had 26 saves for the Isles to rebound after a rocky Game 3 that saw him benched in the first period.

Anders Lee scored in the third period for New York, which warded off a late Philadelphia power play that prompted a 6-on-4 attack.

Tyler Pitlick opened the scoring 5:42 into the first period for the Flyers to back Carter Hart, who stopped 26 shots.

Islanders 3, Flyers 1:

Cole Burston The Associated Press Lightning left wing Ondrej Palat celebrates his second goal of the game with right wing Nikita Kucherov in the second period of Tampa Bay’s 3-1 win over the Bruins on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena.