Late goal lifts Avs to 2-0 lead

Andre Burakovsky scored late in the third period, Philipp Grubauer stopped 30 shots and the Avalanche beat the Coyotes 3-2 on Friday in Edmonton, Alberta, to take a 2-0 lead in their Stanley Cup playoff series.

“I thought today we were a little too distracted as the game went on and kind of reeled it back in after the second period, kind of got back what we needed to do,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “The third wasn’t perfect either, but at least we were focused on what we had to do.”

The Coyotes were far more aggressive after being tentative against the Avalanche’s offensive firepower to in the opener.

The Avalanche still found ways to score early in the opening two periods on goals by Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Jost.

The Coyotes responded each time, tying it on a goal by Clayton Keller in the first and Michael Grabner in the second.

The Avalanche revved up in the third period and Burakovsky scored with 2:53 left when a shot by Kazem Kadri hit Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun’s shin pad, leaving left goalie Darcy Kuemper out of position.

The Avalanche, the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed, is 13-1 all-time in playoff series with a 2-0 lead as the best-of-seven series heads to Game 3 Saturday in the Edmonton bubble.

“They outworked us in our D zone,” MacKinnon said. “I actually thought we played well offensively, had some good looks, so good possession time. Definitely, our compete level will go up tomorrow.”

Canadiens roar back: Tomas Tatar and Jesperi Kotkaniemi each scored twice, Carey Price stopped 30 shots and the Canadiens rebounded without coach Claude Julien to rout the Flyers 5-0 on and tie the series at a game apiece.

Julien was home in Montreal a day after a stent was placed in a coronary artery. The team said doctors expect a full recovery.

Julien was rushed to St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto overnight Wednesday with chest pain. He had surgery Thursday. Because Julien left the NHL bubble in Toronto, he will have to follow quarantine protocol if he wishes to re-enter it. Kirk Muller will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. Game 3 is Sunday night. The Canadiens roughed up Flyers goalie Carter Hart, who turned 22 on Thursday, and scored four goals through two periods to send him to the bench.

The Canadiens continued their sensational surge through Toronto hockey and bounced back fine after a 2-1 Game 1 loss. The Canadiens were the last team in the East to qualify for the expanded playoffs, and then needed four games to win its best-of-five series over Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.

Hart grew up in Alberta and was a long-time fan of Price, who dazzled in the NHL restart. Price had a shutout against the Penguins and had an elite series that keyed the series win.