Bruins force a Game 7
BOSTON – Brad Marchand scored one goal and assisted on another, and Jeremy Swayman stopped 23 shots to lead the Boston Bruins past the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Thursday night and send their first-round playoff series to a decisive seventh game.
The home team has won all six games in the series so far – an edge for Carolina, which will host Game 7 on Saturday.
The winner will play either the Penguins or Rangers in the Eastern Conference semifinals; Pittsburgh leads that series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Friday night.
Two days after losing 5-1 at Carolina – their third blowout loss on the road – the Bruins returned to the TD Garden for what could be the last home game for future Hall of Famer Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins captain has declined to talk about his future during the season.
Andrei Svechnikov scored twice and Antti Raanta made 29 saves for the Hurricanes, who have won three games by a combined score of 15-4 and lost three by a total of 14-6.
Charlie Coyle also scored for Boston, and Erik Haula and Derek Forbort added third-period goals before Curtis Lazar backhanded the puck into the empty net with 4:17 to play.
Marchand broke a scoreless tie 46 seconds into the second period, taking a long cross-ice pass from Connor Clifton and skating to the right circle before wristing it over Raanta’s glove.
Coyle gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead in the last two minutes of the period, poking in the trickling rebound of David Pastrnak’s one-timer. Svechnikov made it a one-goal game early in the third before Haula and Forbort gave Boston back its cushion.
Lightning 4, Maple Leafs 3, 4OT: Brayden Point scored on a rebound with 1:56 remaining in overtime, giving the Tampa Bay Lightning a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night and forcing Game 7 in the firstround playoff series between the Atlantic Division rivals.
Ondrej Palat, Anthony Cirelli and Nikita Kucherov also scored for the twotime defending Stanley Cup champions, who blew a two-goal lead for the second straight game and trailed 3-2 entering the third period.
Andrei Vasilevskiy had 30 saves, nine overtime, to improve to 18-0 in games following a playoff loss over the past three postseasons. Jack Campbell stopped 32 of 36 shots for the Maple Leafs, who are chasing their first playoff series win in 18 years.
Game 7 is Saturday in Toronto.