NHL; Bruins, Canes Win In OT

UNDATED (AP) – The Boston Bruins have taken a two-games-to-one lead in the Stanley Cup second-round series, while the Carolina Hurricanes have climbed within 2-1 in their series.  Brad Marchand scored 3:36 into overtime to give the Bruins a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders.  The Bruins went ahead, 1-0 on Craig Smith’s goal 5:52 into the contest. Boston maintained the lead until Mat Barzal notched his first goal of the postseason, beating Tuukka Rask with 5:26 left in regulation. Rask stopped Barzal on a point-blank shot early in OT and finished with 28 saves.
Semyon Varlamov handled 39 shots for the Islanders, who will host Game 4 on Saturday.
In Tampa, Carolina blew a 2-0 lead before Jordan Staal netted a power-play goal 5:57 into the extra session to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 victory. It was Staal’s fifth goal of the playoffs and left the home team 0-3 in the series.  Brett Pesce and Sebastian Aho scored 2:25 apart early in the second period, but Brayden Point tallied 77 seconds later before setting up Alex Killorn’s  goal late in the second. Petr Mrazek stopped 35 shots in his first appearance of the postseason.  Game 4 is Saturday.