UNDATED (AP) — The defending Stanley Cup champs are one win away from reaching the semifinals.
The Tampa Bay Lighting own a three-games-to-one lead in their second-round series after Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos each had two goals and an assist in a 6-4 win over the Hurricanes.
The Lightning trailed 4-2 before scoring three straight goals in the second period. Stamkos and Kucherov tallied on the power play and Tyler Johnson also beat Petr Mrazek with 5:22 left in the period.
Tampa Bay finished 3 of 6 on the power play, and it has scored five times with the man advantage in the last two games.
Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 21 saves and blanked Carolina after Jaccob Slavin’s goal at 12:41 of the second.
The Bolts can wrap up the series on Tuesday in Raleigh.
The Islanders have evened their second-round series at two games apiece, guaranteeing at least one more game at Nassau Coliseum.
Mat Barzalscored the game-winning goal and had an assist as the Isles knocked off the Bruins, 4-1. Barzal broke a 1-1 tie with 6:57 remaining before Casey Cizikas and J.G Pageau added empty-netters.
Kyle Palmieri also scored and Semyon Varlamov stopped 28 shots for New York. Varlamov was perfect after David Krejci scored on a power play 3:57 into the second period.
Game 5 is Monday in Boston.
