UNDATED (AP) — Brad Marchand scored 39 seconds into overtime and the Boston Bruins rallied to beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 and even the East Division first-round series at a game apiece.
Marchand was Boston’s OT hero in a game in which he made more noise for taking post-whistle penalties than producing. The Bruins’ leading scorer, who ranked third in the NHL in points, looked more like himself on the one-timer he ripped past Craig Anderson in overtime. Taylor Hall tied it with 2:49 left in regulation for the Bruins. Game 3 is Wednesday night in Boston.
In other NHL playoff action:
— Nathan MacKinnon scored the tiebreaking goal 30 seconds into the third period and later added an empty-netter, Philipp Grubauer stopped 22 shots and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. Gabriel Landeskog also added a third-period goal by tipping in a blue-line blast from MacKinnon. Cale Makar got things started with a power-play goal in the first period. Game 2 is Wednesday. Jordan Kyrou scored his first postseason goal for a Blues team missing leading scorer David Perron, who’s out due to the NHL’s virus protocols.
— Jordan Staal scored twice and Nino Niederreiter beat Juuse Saros for the go-ahead goal early in the third period, helping the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators in the first game of the teams’ first-round playoff series. Niederreiter hammered the puck past Saros from between the circles at 2:26 of the third. Staal followed midway through the third by corralling a loose puck and beating Saros. Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov also scored for Carolina. Filip Forsberg and Erik Haula scored for Nashville. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Wednesday.
