Brad Boyes scored off a goal-mouth scramble 14:08 into overtime to give Providence a much-needed 2-1 win over Philadelphia in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final on Monday night.
The Phantoms’ series lead is now 2-1 heading into Wednesday’s Game 4.
Boyes’s winning goal came just five seconds after the expiration of a Bruins power play, awarded when Philadelphia was whistled for too many men on the ice. It was the seventh goal of the postseason for Boyes, and his league-leading third game-winner.
Joni Pitkanen gave the Phantoms a 1-0 lead at the 8:10 mark of the first period, and Antero Niittymaki was closing in on his second consecutive shutout when Keith Aucoin tied the game with 6:54 left in regulation.
Niittymaki and the Bruins’ Hannu Toivonen each finished with 36 saves on the night.
CHICAGO 4, MANITOBA 2
Stephen Weiss scored his second goal of the playoffs 92 seconds into the third period, and Kari Lehtonen made 38 saves as Chicago took a commanding 3-0 lead in the Western Conference final with a 4-2 win over Manitoba at the MTS Centre on Monday.
The loss, which spoiled the Moose’s perfect 6-0 home record this postseason, puts the Wolves one win away from their second conference championship in the last four years.
With Alex Auld getting his first start since Apr. 16 in the Manitoba net, Tommi Santala and Derek MacKenzie gave Chicago a 2-0 lead just 3:27 into the contest.
But Josh Green scored in the final minute of the first period and Jesse Schultz found the net 2:19 into the second, as the Moose tied the score.
Chicago withstood several late chances by Manitoba to pull even again, and iced the game on Ben Simon‘s empty-netter with 21.9 seconds remaining.
The Moose were scoreless in six power-play opportunities, falling to 0-for-20 in the series. The Wolves, 0-for-7 in Game 3, are 1-for-18.
