RALEIGH, N.C. -- Chris Wagner and Brad Marchand scored 5:07 apart in the second period, and the Boston Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 on Tuesday night to take a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Tuukka Rask stopped 35 shots for the Bruins, who have won six consecutive postseason games for the first time since 1978. They are one victory away from their third Stanley Cup Final appearance in nine years.
Boston will go for the sweep on Thursday night.
Calvin de Haan scored and Curtis McElhinney made 29 saves for the Hurricanes while starting in place of Petr Mrazek, who allowed 10 goals in the first two games of the series.
But it wasn't enough to keep alive Carolina's postseason perfection at home. Now they're in an unenviable spot. Only four teams in NHL history have ever rallied to win a series they trailed 3-0, and none since Los Angeles in 2014.
This one got away from them in the first 7½ minutes of the second period, when the Bruins claimed control with their fourth line turning a turnover by Carolina's Brock McGinn into a 1-0 lead at 1:21.
Sean Kuraly collected the puck and passed low to Joakim Nordstrom, with the former Hurricane then finding Wagner alone in front for a tap-in.
The Bruins entered with the NHL's best postseason power-play unit -- converting on a full third of their chances in the playoffs -- and they were 1 of 5 with the man advantage against a Carolina penalty kill that began with a sub-50% success rate in this series.
But that one goal was a significant one.
With 19 seconds left on a high-sticking minor on Nino Niederreiter, Marchand put Boston up 2-0 when his shot from between the circles trickled past McElhinney.
It loomed large because the Hurricanes pulled within a goal when de Haan's slap shot off a draw got through Rask's pads for the defenseman's first goal since Nov. 8.
Sports on 05/15/2019