Lightning dominate Bruins to even series

Brayden Point had three assists and an empty-net goal as the Lightning downed the Bruins 4-2 in Game 2 of their secondround playoff series Monday night in Tampa, Fla.

The victory evened the best-of-seven matchup between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. Game 3 will be Wednesday night in Boston.

Point assisted on the Lightning’s first three goals before sealing the victory with his empty-netter with 25.2 seconds left.

Yanni Gourde, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat also scored for the Lightning, which rebounded from a 6-2 loss in Game 1.

The Bruins’ high-scoring top line of Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand combined for three goals and 11 points in the opener. They had four more points in Game 2 but were unable to take over the game.

Charlie McAvoy scored for the Bruins late in the first period. Torey Krug’s late goal trimmed the Lightning’s lead to 3-2 with just over four minutes remaining.

Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 18 shots. Tuukka Rask finished with 27 saves for the Bruins.

The Lightning had nearly twice as many scoring opportunities as the Bruins in the series opener and controlled play early in Game 2, getting off the first 10 shots of the game and taking a 1-0 lead on Gourde’s powerplay goal at 11 minutes, 47 seconds of the first period.

With the exception of failing to taking advantage of a long 5-on-3 power play, the Bruins made the most of limited chances, with the Bergeron line leading the way.

McAvoy’s goal, with Bergeron and Marchand assisting, made it 1-1. Pastrnak and Marchand set up Krug’s goal to pull the Bruins within one goal in the closing minutes.

The Bergeron line has 12 goals and 41 points in the Bruins’ five playoff wins. But the four assists Monday night are the only points the three have delivered in four losses.

Capitals forward Tom Wilson will not face a suspension for a hit that knocked Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin out of Game 2 of their second-round playoff series Sunday. Wilson’s shoulder appeared to strike Dumoulin in the head as the defenseman turned away from an oncoming hit from Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin. Dumoulin is questionable for Game 3 on Tuesday, as is winger Carl Hagelin (upper body). Forward Evgeni Malkin, who missed the first two games with an apparent leg injury, is likely to return.