NHL playoffs: Senators, Maple Leafs even their series; Predators blank Blackhawks again

Dion Phaneuf waited a long time for this moment. Phaneuf set up two goals before scoring at 1:59 of overtime and the Ottawa Senators rallied past the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Saturday.

The Senators tied their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series 1-1. Game 3 is Monday night in Boston.

Phaneuf, a 12-year veteran, scored the winner from the point as Alex Burrows provided a screen.

“It feels great to do it here in front of our fans, it’s just incredible,” Phaneuf said. “I’ve played a long time and this is my first overtime winner and it feels great. I tried to get as much on it and luckily it found a way through.”

Clarke MacArthur, Chris Wideman and Derick Brassard also scored for the Senators and Craig Anderson made 26 saves.

Drew Stafford, Tim Schaller and Patrice Bergeron scored for the Bruins. Tuukka Rask stopped 25 shots.

The Senators had rallied from a 3-1 deficit with a two-goal third period to force overtime.

Ottawa scored twice in a span of 2:20 to tie the game.

“It’s disappointing. Generally we’re pretty good at closing out games,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said.

Wideman made it 3-2 with a shot from the point and Brassard, off a great pass from Erik Karlsson, tied the game at 7:48 on a one-timer.

Toronto 4, at Washington 3 (2 OT): Kasperi Kapanen scored his second goal of the game 11:53 into the second overtime and Frederik Andersen made 47 saves as the Maple Leafs evened their first-round series with the Capitals, 1-1.

Kapanen also scored in regulation for Toronto along with James van Riemsdyk and Morgan Rielly, and Andersen made several big stops and keep the Maple Leafs alive.

Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson and Nicklas Backstrom scored for the top-seeded Capitals, who are now feeling the heat going into Game 3 Monday in Toronto.

Braden Holtby made 48 saves before being beaten on the overtime winner. Not unraveling in a tough atmosphere, the young Maple Leafs showed they belonged on the same ice with the Capitals after losing Game 1 in OT.

Brian Boyle made a slick backhanded pass to Kapanen, who put the puck into a wide-open net to give Toronto its first playoff victory since 2013.

Well before the game dragged into overtime, the Maple Leafs lost rugged defenseman Roman Polak to a gruesome injury in the second period when his right leg bent the wrong way on landing after a hit from Brooks Orpik.

Nashville 5, at Chicago 0: Pekka Rinne made 30 saves in his second straight shutout and picked up two assists, helping the Predators pound the Blackhawks for a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Ryan Johansen had a goal and two assists as Nashville added a dominant performance to its taut 1-0 victory in Game 1 on Thursday night.

Ryan Ellis, Harry Zolnierczyk, Colton Sissons and Kevin Fiala each scored their first career playoff goal.

Game 3 is Monday night in Nashville.

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville shuffled his lineup, inserting rookie Vinnie Hinostroza and Dennis Rasmussen and benching veteran Jordin Tootoo and John Hayden. But it was more of the same for the Blackhawks, who once again looked out of sync against the Predators’ active defense.

Chicago was shut out in consecutive playoff games for the first time since it was blanked in three straight in April 2002 against St. Louis. It has dropped six in a row dating to the end of the regular season.

The sellout crowd of 22,175 booed as the final seconds of the second period ticked off, and there were more jeers in the third.