Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) beats Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark, back, for a goal during the third period of Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Monday, April 22, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
BOSTON (AP) – Auston Matthews scored on a breakaway to snap a third-period tie with eight minutes left, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Monday night to knot their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.
Ilya Samsonov stopped 27 shots for Toronto, which snapped an eight-game losing streak against Boston over 534 days dating to November 2022. Max Domi and John Tavares also scored for the Maple Leafs, who haven’t beaten the Bruins in a playoff series since 1959.
Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak scored for Boston. Linus Ullmark, starting as part of a goalie rotation even though Jeremy Swayman won Game 1 on Saturday, made 30 saves.
Game 3 is Wednesday night in Toronto.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Monday:
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HURRICANES 5 ISLANDERS 3
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Sebastian Aho and Jordan Martinook scored nine seconds apart late in the third period to help Carolina complete a comeback from three goals down to beat New York Islanders, taking a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series in improbable fashion.
Aho struck first by redirecting Andrei Svechnikov’s shot at the right post behind Semyon Varlamov with 2:15 remaining to tie the game at 3. After an Islanders giveaway on the ensuing faceoff, Martinook raced down to beat Noah Dobson to the puck along the boards and then pushed it toward the same post from behind the net.
The puck banged off Varlamov’s left skate and slipped into the net for the 4-3 lead with 2:06 to go, sending the Hurricanes players mobbing a jumping Martinook amid a roof-blowing roar from a shocked home crowd.
Jake Guentzel added an empty-net score in the final minute to seal this one, which ended with frustrations flaring for the Islanders, several scrums between the teams and multiple players taking early walks to the locker room.
The series shifts north for the next two games, with Game 3 set for Thursday night.
Kyle Palmieri, Bo Horvat and Anders Lee scored as the New York Islanders built a 3-0 lead early in the second period.
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THE LATE GAMES
In Western Conference playoff openers, the Edmonton Oilers are hosting the Los Angeles Kings, and the Vegas Golden Knights are playing the Stars in Dallas.
