Playoffs - Tue, 21 May - Results

Boston v NY Rangers 2-1 - Game 3 - The Boston Bruins aren't celebrating yet. They've been through too much to start prematurely thinking about the Eastern Conference Finals, even though they're one win away from getting there. The Bruins have given no indication that their prior problems in closing out a series after taking a commanding lead will become an issue against the New York Rangers. They've clearly been the more dominant team in all three games, and Tuesday night it took an all-world performance by Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist to just keep things close. Fourth-liner Daniel Paille beat Lundqvist for the game-winner with 3:31 left in regulation at Madison Square Garden to give the Bruins a 2-1 victory and a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Paille also had the assist on Boychuk's game-tying goal 3:10 into the third period. Paille's linemates, Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell, were on the ice for both goals. Thornton had assists on both for his first two points of this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs. Tuukka Rask needed to make only 23 saves for the win. The Rangers couldn't help out Lundqvist, who was excellent in making 32 saves, but not good enough to keep his team from falling into an 0-3 hole with its first home loss in the 2013 postseason. Game 4 is Thursday at Madison Square Garden (7 p.m. ET, CNBC, TSN, RDS). It's easy to understand why the Bruins aren't thinking big just yet. For starters, the 11 players remaining from the 2010 team vividly remember their historic meltdown in the Eastern semis, when they blew a 3-0 series lead and then a 3-0 lead in Game 7 only to lose to the Philadelphia Flyers, who went on to the Stanley Cup Final. But freshest of all is the memory of nearly giving back a 3-1 series lead to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round this year. The Maple Leafs won Games 5 and 6 and had a 4-1 lead in halfway through the third period of Game 7 before the Bruins stormed back with three goals in regulation, including two in the last 82 seconds, before winning in overtime. The question facing the Rangers is how much do they still believe after Tuesday night, when their power play again failed them (0-for-2; 2-for-38 in the playoffs) and they couldn't generate a consistent forecheck. The Rangers were hoping to do that in Game 3, especially after grabbing a 1-0 lead on Taylor Pyatt's deflection goal 3:53 into the second period. But they couldn't generate any momentum off the goal and were again chasing the Bruins, relying on Lundqvist to bail them out. That was the story of Games 1 and 2 at TD Garden in Boston, and it was the same tale in Game 3. Boston outshot the Rangers 14-2 during the final 16:07 of the second period and 11-8 in the third period for a 25-10 edge after Pyatt scored. Lundqvist, who stoned Chris Kelly and Tyler Seguin on breakaways in the first period, had to make a superb glove save on Campbell with 8:24 left in the second to preserve the 1-0 lead. He made a quick left pad save on Torey Krug five minutes later and then got some help from the right post as Nathan Horton found iron with his shot off the rebound.

It took a relentless shift from Boston's fourth line, some traffic in front of Lundqvist and a seeing-eye shot by Boychuk for the Bruins to pull even. Paille got the puck up to Boychuk, who had Campbell and Thornton in front of the net when he fired his wrist shot from the right point past Lundqvist. The shot may have deflected off Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello, who was coming out to challenge Boychuk. Paille scored the winner after Campbell's shot from above the left circle shot up and hit Lundqvist in the head. Lundqvist lost the puck and was almost guilty of putting it in himself, but Paille curled around the net and simultaneous with Rangers defenseman Steve Eminger whacked at the loose puck in the slot from the right side. The puck shot up and went into the near side. The Rangers used their timeout with 1:36 remaining and were able to settle the puck in the zone with roughly a minute left so Lundqvist could head to the bench for the extra skater. They had six forwards on the ice but couldn't get off a shot on goal. They've been impossible to beat in this series. But the Bruins know their most difficult test is yet to come. It may be an old cliché, but when a Bruins' player says the fourth one is the hardest to win, he's speaking from experience. The question now is have they learned anything?

Los Angeles v San Jose 1-2 - Game 4 - It was early in first period Tuesday night at HP Pavilion when San Jose Sharks' captain Joe Thornton won a race to the puck behind the Los Angeles Kings' net and zipped a cross-ice pass to Brent Burns in the left circle. Mike Richards blocked Burns' shot, but Thornton got the carom and sent it back to Burns, who beat goaltender Jonathan Quick to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead just over six minutes into the game. Thornton set the tone with his high-octane start, and his teammates followed his lead as the Sharks beat the Kings 2-1 and pulled even in their Western Conference Semifinal series at two wins apiece. Couture added a power-play goal in the second to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead. Richards scored on the power play for the Kings midway through the third. Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi stopped 22 shots, while Quick made 21 saves. The Sharks improved to 4-0 at home during this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs and beat the Kings for the seventh straight time overall at HP Pavilion, including five regular-season wins during the past two seasons. The last time the Kings won in San Jose was in Game 5 of the 2011 Western Conference Quarterfinals. The Sharks went on to win that series in six games. This series goes back to Los Angeles for Game 5 on Thursday night at Staples Center, where the Kings have won 12 straight games, five in this year's playoffs, and have gone 24-4-1 this season. They beat San Jose in both games in the regular season and in the first two games of this series. The Sharks are undaunted at the prospect of winning in L.A. Los Angeles, which went 10-1 on the road last spring on the way to winning the Stanley Cup, has lost four of five games away from home this year.

The Sharks took a 2-0 lead into the third period, but Richards cut that advantage in half with his power-play goal at 9:46 with Burns in the penalty box for boarding Anze Kopitar. Jeff Carter ripped a shot from the right circle that hit the post. Niemi tried to cover the puck, but Richards knocked it home from just to the right of the crease. The Sharks outshot the Kings 15-3 in the first period, but by the end of the game the shots were even at 23-23 as Los Angeles made a furious comeback. The Sharks dominated the opening period, taking 12 more shots than the Kings, winning 17 of 22 faceoffs and earning the only two power plays. The Kings didn't have a shot on goal during the final 9:58 of the period. But at the first intermission, San Jose led just 1-0. Burns put the Sharks ahead when he took Thornton's pass and ripped a shot from left circle past Quick, giving Thornton's line its first goal of the series. Thornton earned his 75th career playoff assist. The Sharks made it 2-0 at 3:55 of the second on Couture's power-play goal with Colin Fraser in the penalty box for roughing Andrew Desjardins. Dan Boyle's shot from the point banked off Couture's shin pad and went past Quick. The Kings thought they had a goal at 6:06 when Tyler Toffoli got his stick on a pass in the slot and redirected it toward Niemi. After Niemi made the save, Dustin Penner appeared to poke the rebound past him, but not until after the whistle had blown. The last time the Sharks played at Staples Center, they owned a 3-2 lead in Game 2 with less than two minutes left in regulation but gave up two power-play goals, including one on a 5-on-3, and lost 4-3. Defenseman Matt Greene and forward Kyle Clifford returned to the Kings' lineup after being out with injuries. Greene, who missed most of the regular season after undergoing back surgery, made his 2013 playoff debut. Clifford was in the lineup for the first time since suffering an undisclosed injury in Game 5 of the first round against the St. Louis Blues. He played left wing on the fourth line. Tim Kennedy was in the Sharks' lineup, taking injured Martin Havlat's place and centering the fourth line.