Point’s four points help Lightning even series against Bruins
Brayden Point had an empty-net goal and three assists and Tampa Bay Lightning found a way to slow Boston’s high-scoring line of Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand to beat the Bruins 4-2 in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series Monday night.
The victory evened the best-of-7 matchup between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. Game 3 is Wednesday night in Boston.
Point assisted on Tampa Bay’s first three goals before sealing the win 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.
Bergeron, Pastrnak and 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 Tampa Bay’s lead to 3-2 with just over four minutes remaining.
MAPLE LEAFS LOOKING FOR G.M. >> Toronto general manager Lou Lamoriello will not return to the role next season.
Team President Brendan Shanahan said he was sticking to a plan that called for the 75-year-old Lamoriello to serve as GM for three years and then transition to senior adviser for four years.
Shanahan said he doesn’t have a timeline for filling the GM position.
The Maple Leafs set franchise records for points (105) and wins (49) in the regular season, but were eliminated in seven games by the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs last week.
FRANCIS OUT WITH HURRICANES >> Carolina terminated the contract of demoted general manager and Hall of Fame player Ron Francis, nearly two months after Francis was reassigned to another front-office position — president of hockey operations — while the team began a search for a new GM that will report directly to new owner Tom Dundon.
Francis, 55, is a four-time All-Star who won the Stanley Cup twice with Pittsburgh in the 1990s, took over as Carolina’s general manager in 2014 after being groomed for the position by former GM Jim Rutherford — who now is trying to win the Cup for a third straight year with the Penguins.
The Hurricanes, meanwhile, have not made the playoffs since 2009. Their nine-year postseason drought is one of the longest in NHL history.