NHL playoffs: Bruins beat Leafs; Avalanche defeat Flames in OT

David Pastrnak scored twice in quick succession, Brad Marchand had a goal and two assists and the Boston Bruins held off the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-4 on Wednesday night to tie the first-round series 2-2.

Charlie McAvoy had a goal and an assist, Zdeno Chara and Joakim Nordstrom also scored and Tuukka Rask made 38 saves.

Auston Matthews scored twice for Toronto. Zach Hyman and Travis Dermott also scored and Frederik Andersen stopped 25 shots.

Game 5 is Friday night in Boston.

After the Maple Leafs overcame a 2-0 deficit to tie it early in the second period, Pastrnak put Boston back in front at 3:16 when he redirected a pass from Marchand on a 2-on-1. The Bruins then got a power play when Matthews went off for roughing, and Marchand whipped a backhand pass to a wide-open Pastrnak, who snapped the puck short-side on Andersen for his second goal in 1:35.

Chara made it 5-2 at 5:39 of the third. At 42 years, 30 days, the Boston captain became the second-oldest player in NHL history to score a playoff goal. Chris Chelios holds the record at 45 years, 86 days.

Matthews scored on the power play with 8:08 left, and Dermott made it 5-4 through traffic with 6:33 remaining. Nordstrom scored into an empty net with two seconds to go.

at Stars 5, Predators 1: Roope Hintz and Alexander Radulov scored power-play goals on Dallas’ first two shots, and the Stars chased Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne with an early four-goal onslaught, beating the Predators 5-1 Wednesday night and evening the best-of-seven series at two games each.

Hintz added his second career playoff goal in the second period, on John Klingberg’s third assist of the game.

Ben Bishop stopped 34 shots. Bishop allowed a couple of soft goals in Game 3 in his home playoff debut with Dallas, when the Predators won their second consecutive game after the Stars won the series opener in Nashville.

Game 5 is Saturday in Nashville.

at Avalanche 3, Flames 2: Mikko Rantanen scored on a slap shot 10:23 into overtime after tying the game with a goal late in regulation and the Colorado Avalanche rallied for a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night to take a 3-1 lead in the teams’ best-of-seven series.

Moments after weathering a penalty, Carl Soderberg got the puck and sent a pass to Rantanen, who lined a shot past Mike Smith before being mobbed by teammates.

Colorado trailed 2-0 in the third period, with J.T. Compher starting the comeback on a rebound and Rantanen tying it on a power-play goal with 2:50 left.

Elias Lindholm and Derek Ryan had goals for the Flames, the top seed in the West. They face a must-win scenario when the series returns to Calgary for Game 5 on Friday. The Flames are trying to avoid a similar fate as Tampa Bay, the No. 1 seed in the East who lost to Columbus in the first round.

Philipp Grubauer stopped 35 shots, including one in OT with his left pad while sprawled on the ice.