Lightning, Bruins, Avalanche advance in Stanley Cup playoffs

The Tampa Bay Lightning eliminated Columbus from the Stanley Cup playoffs in five games Wednesday, overcoming a late two-goal deficit and beating the Blue Jackets 5-4 on Brayden Point’s goal 5:12 into overtime in Toronto.

Point also delivered the winner in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series, a five-overtime thriller that wound up being the fourth-longest game in NHL history.

Kevin Shattenkirk and Anthony Cirelli scored in the final eight minutes of regulation to wipe out a 4-2 deficit. Columbus scored four consecutive times to overcome an early two-goal deficit of its own.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 37 shots for Tampa Bay, which was swept from the first round by the Blue Jackets last season.

Bruins 2, Hurricanes 1: Patrice Bergeron broke a tie with 3.5 seconds left in the second period, David Pastrnak returned with two assists and Boston beat Carolina in Toronto to win the first-round playoff series in five games.

The Bruins trailed 1-0 entering the final five minutes of the second period before scoring twice on the power play, first from David Krejci with 4:40 left after Bergeron drew a penalty on a breakaway chance.

Then Bergeron tracked down a loose rebound from Pastrnak that hit the boards, then quickly sent the puck back toward the net from the left side. The puck slipped under a standing Petr Mrazek, bounced off his left skate and straight into the net.

Jaroslav Halak had 23 saves for Boston, which swept Carolina in the Eastern Conference finals last season.

Avalanche 7, Coyotes 1: Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and two assists, Nazem Kadri also scored twice and Colorado routed Arizona to close out the series in five games at Edmonton, Alberta.

Kadri scored two goals for the second straight game, both in the first period, and finished with five in the series. Samuel Girard also had a goal in the first, and MacKinnon scored twice in 58 seconds of the second to put Colorado up 5-0.

Canucks 4, Blues 3: Tyler Motte’s second goal of the night broke a 3-3 tie late in the second period and Vancouver took a 3-2 series lead over St. Louis in their Western Conference series in Edmonton. Game 6 is Friday night.

Canadiens 5, Flyers 3: Nick Suzuki buried the winner 22 seconds after Philadelphia tied it in the third period, Brendan Gallagher snapped a goal drought and Montreal staved off elimination in Game 5 in Toronto.

Joel Armia scored twice for the Canadiens, Phillip Danualt sealed it into an empty net, and Carey Price made 26 saves. Brett Kulak and Jonathan Drouin each had two assists, and Suzuki also had a helper.

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