Kuraly’s 2nd goal of game lifts Bruins past Senators in 2OT

“It looked like, from my vantage point, that Pasta [David Pastrnak] was trying to backtrack and help on the back-check and got tangled up with [MacArthur]”, said Cassidy.

After pulling out a Game 5 win in double overtime Friday night in Ottawa, the Bruins return to the Garden Sunday at 3 p.m. for Game 6, a must-win if they plan to keep skating this spring. David Pastrnak was on the doorstep and tucked the rebound into the corner of the net for his second goal of the playoffs at 8:40 of the second period.

Ottawa didn’t register its first shot until Dion Phaneuf’s snapper with 12:18 to play in the first period and came up empty on three power-play chances after a trio of delay-of-game penalties on Boston.

Mark Stone and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Senators as Craig Anderson made 36 saves. He became the first player under the current playoff format to win 21 straight first-round games, and he also set a league record with his 10th career playoff sweep. In a coin-flip series where one bounce could decide a potential Game 7, the Capitals want to close out the pesky Maple Leafs in six.

Even though they had fewer regular season points than New York, The Senators will have home ice advantage by virtue of finishing second in the Atlanta Division while the Rangers are a wild card. NY topped the Senators, 4-3, in 2012 on their way to their first Eastern Conference Final since 1997.

– Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson and Bruins rookie defenseman Charlie McAvoy were two of the best players in the series.

The Senators will take on the New York Rangers in the next round. “I think everybody wrote him off, for sure”, Boucher said. “He earned his big first goal and then the victor so good for him”, Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said of Kuraly’s night. “Ever since after the coaching change, we really came together as a group”.

“This is a tight series and we expect the next game on Sunday. It was a hard-fought series and just didn’t go our way”.

“We showed a lot of character”, said Bruins center Patrice Bergeron. “We were good on the rush as well and the power play, we’ve gone back to February, and we were always a good forechecking team”.

The Sens tied it with their own power-play goal as Ryan tipped a Derick Brassard rocket past Rask 3:26 into the second. This unit allowed five goals in six playoff games, including a pair of contests during which the Senators scored twice with the extra skater. After Joe Morrow got caught pinching up ice, Ottawa’s Mark Stone took a stretch pass to get past the D and beat Rask for a 1-0 lead after one.

Kuraly tied it with his first-ever National Hockey League goal on a bank shot from the side of the net with 2:55 left in the middle period. There is also a buzz about the youth movement, with eight skaters suiting up for their first playoff action. That was a wicked shot by Turris that ended his scoring slump at nine games, a goal that put the Senators in front 2-1.

Notes: Wideman was scratched after struggling in the Game 5 loss.

“The last two games have been a little tougher for [Wideman], so give him a little break and he’ll be ready the next game after that”. Ottawa LW Viktor Stalberg (undisclosed) played despite being a game-time decision.