Sean Kuraly"s second goal of the game at 10:19 of the second overtime gave the Boston Bruins a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators in Game 5 on Friday night, avoiding elimination in the first-round series.
David Pastrnak also scored and Tuukka Rask finished with 41 saves to help the bruins rally from two goals down early in the second period and cut the Senators" lead to 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.
Game 6 is Sunday in Boston.
Mark Stone and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Senators, and Craig Anderson stopped 36 shots.
The Bruins had the best chances to end the game in the first overtime.
Boston failed to capitalize on a power play when Clarke MacArthur was called for high sticking and then had Noel Acciari"s apparent goal waved off at 14:25 due to goalie interference. The Bruins challenged the call to no avail.
Capitals take 3-2 series lead
Justin Williams scored the overtime winner as the Washington Capitals beat the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.
The Capitals survived a scare when captain Alex Ovechkin left the game late in the first period with an apparent left leg injury, but he returned in the second. Thanks to Williams" goal 1:04 into overtime, the Presidents" Trophy winners go to Toronto for Game 6 on Sunday with a chance to advance to face the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round.
Braden Holtby made 24 saves for the Capitals, who got a goal from T.J. Oshie on the power play that came from Nazem Kadri"s***t that injured Ovechkin.
Rookie of the year finalist Auston Matthews scored the only goal for the Maple Leafs, and Frederik Andersen made 26 saves before being beaten in overtime.
Ottawa Senators vs Boston Bruins. 2017 NHL Playoffs. Round 1. Game 3. April 17th, 2017. (HD)
The Boston Bruins will live to play another day.
Forward Sean Kuraly provided the heroics Friday night at Canadian Tire Center, scoring the first two goals of his NHL career -- including the game-winning tally in double overtime -- to lead Boston to a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators in Game 5 of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Ottawa now holds a 3-2 series advantage, with Game 6 heading back to TD Garden Sunday afternoon.
Kuraly helped bring the Bruins out of a two-goal deficit, tying the contest in the closing minutes of the second period before beating Senators goaltender Craig Anderson off a backhand shot at 10:19 in double overtime to close out the dramatic win.
Charlie McAvoy generated the scoring chance off of a shot from the point that deflected off David Backes and sailed over to Kuraly in the low slot. Kuraly did not hesitate -- firing the puck past Anderson to cap off a memorable night for the 24-year-old forward.
Prior to Friday"s tilt, Kuraly had only logged 90 minutes of NHL action in his career -- with the physical forward earning a spot in the Bruins" lineupin place of center Ryan Spooner.
"I liked his game earlier in the series, but we had guys that had been here," Bruins interim head coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We liked him, we just put guys ahead of him that have been here all year. One door closes and another one opens and he took advantage of his opportunities.
"He started in the bottom of the lineup. Tonight, we just needed him more. It"s a good series for him, because it"s a forechecking series and that"s one of his strengths."
David Pastrank also lit the lamp for the Bruins, while Tuukka Rask posted 41 saves in the victory.
Rask saved his best for overtime, stopping all 19 shots that came his way over the final 30 minutes of play -- highlighted by a miraculous save on a breakaway chance from Kyle Turris in double overtime.
Mark Stone and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for Ottawa, while Anderson stopped 36 shots.
After an uneventful opening 10 minutes of play, Stone capitalized off of a Bruins defensive miscue to draw first blood in the contest -- with Stone beating Rask off of a delayed backhand shot on a breakaway to put Ottawa up at 11:19.
While the Senators built themselves an early lead, Boston struggled to generate many scoring chances against Anderson, with the Bruins stymied in Ottawa"s neutral-zone trap. Even without the Senators" 1-3-1 zone play, Boston failed to string together consistent scoring opportunities due to turnovers and icing calls.
Boston suffered another major blow in the closing minutes of the first, as center David Krejci was forced to leave the game after taking a knee-on-knee hit from defenseman Chris Wideman.
Krejci, who missed the first two games of the series due to an upper-body injury, was ruled out for the remainder of the tilt with a lower-body injury.
The start of the second period didn"t yield better results for the Bruins, with yet another defensive slipup leading to a Senators" goal.
Bruins captain Zdeno Chara attempted to pinch in on a Senators" rush in the neutral zone, leading to an easy breakaway chance from Pageau. Pageau beat Rask five-hole just 30 seconds into the middle stanza to give Ottawa some insurance.
The Bruins" first line finally put Boston on the board at 8:40, with Pastrnak scoring his second goal of the postseason.
After defenseman Charlie McAvoy kept the puck in Ottawa"s zone, Brad Marchand generated a prime scoring opportunity off of a wraparound backhander that bounced off of Anderson"s pads. Pastrnak bounced on the rebound and potted it to cut the Senators" lead in half.
After being inserted into the Bruins" lineup in place of Ryan Spooner, Kuraly made his presence felt in the waning minutes of the second, notching his first career NHL goal at 17:05.
After a sustained shift generated from strong forechecking, Kuraly gathered the puck behind the Senators" net and brought the puck into the crease. While Kuraly"s shot was from a tough angle, the puck managed to ricochet off of Wideman"s foot and past goalie Craig Anderson to make it a 2-2 game.
While the Bruins held the Senators to zero shots on goal through the first 10 minutes of the third period, Ottawa nearly secured the go-ahead tally with nine minutes remaining in regulation, as a wrister from Hoffman bounced off Rask"s pads and slid just wide of the Bruins" net.
Two sloppy mistakes nearly cost Boston as regulation started to wind down -- as the Senators spent four of the last five minutes of play on the man advantage off of a delay-of-game and too-many-men penalty against the Bruins. However, the Bruins" penalty-kill unit stood tall to force the contest into overtime.
The Bruins appeared to score off of Noel Acciari potting a rebound with 5:34 remaining in overtime, but the game-winning strike was called off due to goaltender interference on Kuraly.
After Rask robbed Turris of his breakway chance in double overtime, Kuraly ended the contest -- jumping on a rebound down low and firing it home to extend Boston"s season.
"A lot of good plays leading up to it," Kuraly said. "I was just at the tail end of it. The puck lands on my stick and I pass it into the back of the net. ... Those are the good ones. You don"t get many of those. It bounced on my stick tonight and I"m happy that it did."
the bruins and Senators will resume play on Sunday, with Game 6 set for 3 p.m. at TD Garden.
