Johnny Boychuk broke a tie midway through the second period, and the Boston Bruins scored two goals in the third to beat the New York Rangers 5-2 on Sunday and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Boychuk put a 40-foot shot from the right inside the near post for his third playoff goal to make it 3-2 at 12:08. Brad Marchand, whose overtime goal won the opener, and Milan Lucic stretched the Bruins' lead in the final period.
Boston never trailed as rookie Torey Krug scored the first goal before Ryan Callahan tied it. Gregory Campbell made it 2-1, and New York pulled even again on Rick Nash's goal.
Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-seven series will be played in New York on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.
New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist, last year's Vezina Trophy winner, had his second straight tough game after posting consecutive shutouts in Games 6 and 7 of the first round against the Washington Capitals when the Rangers faced elimination.
Tuukka Rask was solid again for Boston, stopping 35 shots.
Marchand scored on a similar play to the one that gave Boston a 3-2 overtime win on Thursday night.
Sports
On Sunday, Patrice Bergeron carried the puck through the neutral zone along the right side, while Marchand raced toward the net. Bergeron skated deep into the Rangers zone and then passed the puck across the crease to Marchand, who was waiting to tip it past Lundqvist for his second playoff goal.
Lucic made it 5-2 at 12:39 of the third. He skated into the New York end and gave the puck to David Krejci, who was stopped by Lundqvist, but Lucic converted the rebound.
Krug scored his second goal of the series and second of his two-game NHL postseason career to put Boston ahead 1-0 at 5:28 of the first period. Krug fired a shot from just inside the left circle that sailed through a screen and got between Lundqvist's pads.
New York tied it less than three minutes later when Callahan intercepted Marchand's pass at the Boston blue line and skated up the left side while outmaneuvering defenseman Dougie Hamilton. Callahan cut across the front of the crease and scored into the open right side of the net.
The Bruins took another short-lived lead when Campbell got his first goal of the playoffs at 2:24 of the second period. Krug's 45-foot shot from the left hit the left skate of Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi in front and went to Campbell, who beat Lundqvist.
That lead lasted less than a minute as Nash scored at 3:20 with a 10-foot shot from the slot over Rask's right shoulder. It was Nash's first goal in his nine playoff games this year after leading the Rangers with 21 goals during the regular season.
NOTES: Lundqvist has started New York's last 29 games against Boston. ... The Bruins played their second straight game without injured veteran defensemen Andrew Ference, Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden. ... A Bruins defenseman got a goal or an assist on each of the team's goals. ... The margin of victory was more than two goals for just the second time in 26 games between the Rangers and Bruins. ... In their nine playoff games, the Rangers have scored just twice on 35 power plays. They are 0-for-7 against the Bruins.
