The visiting Boston Bruins scored three second-period goals and held off a late Buffalo Sabres rally to post a 4-2 win on Tuesday and even their Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff series at one victory apiece.

Viktor Arvidsson scored in the last two periods, giving the Bruins 1-0 and 4-0 leads. Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha also lit the lamp for Boston, which heads home for Game 3 of the best-of-seven series on Thursday.

Jonathan Aspirot, Casey Mittelstadt and David Pastrnak each dished out two assists for the Bruins, and Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves.

Bowen Byram and Peyton Krebs scored as Buffalo climbed within 4-2 in the closing minutes.

Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on 19 shots before Alex Lyon entered in relief following Arvidsson’s second marker, which came just 16 seconds into the third period.

Buffalo had a 36-26 shot advantage, including 20-8 in the third period, but its power play went 0-for-5. Boston finished 1-for-6 on the man advantage.

The physical contest featured 47 penalty minutes for each team.

Following a scoreless opening period, the Bruins took over in the second, scoring on three of their 11 shots against Luukkonen.

Arvidsson broke the deadlock 4:54 into the middle frame, taking Aspirot’s lob pass in ahead of the defense and beating Luukkonen five-hole with a backhander from the left circle.

A gaffe by Luukkonen helped Boston double its lead with 3:31 left in the period, as Geekie’s high backhanded dump from the far side of center ice eluded him over the glove.

The Bruins’ power play got in on the action 1:41 later. After Geekie’s one-handed keep-in at the blue line extended the play, Zacha tipped in Pastrnak’s shot from the top of the right circle while stationed in the bumper position.

Arvidsson made it 4-0 early in the third, prompting Sabres coach Lindy Ruff to change goaltenders. Aspirot banked a long feed off the boards to set up the play, leading Arvidsson down the left wing to score on a 2-on-1 rush with Zacha.

The Sabres struck twice in a 1:14 span to make things interesting. Byram accepted Beck Malenstyn’s back pass for a wrister from the top of the right circle to break Swayman’s shutout bid with 6:06 left.

Krebs soon made it 4-2, batting down and scoring the rebound of a Rasmus Dahlin point shot that caromed off the post and back into the crease.

–Field Level Media

Shota Imanaga tossed seven stellar innings, Seiya Suzuki and Michael Busch each drove in two runs and the streaking Chicago Cubs posted a 7-4 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.

Imanaga (2-1) allowed just one run on three hits, striking out one and walking one for the Cubs, who won their Major League-leading seventh straight game. Suzuki and Nico Hoerner each homered in the win.

Jesus Luzardo threw 4 2/3 innings for the Phillies, surrendering one run on five hits, walking four and striking out three. Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber both homered for the Phillies, who saw their losing streak extend to seven.

In the fifth, Ian Happ walked and Suzuki singled to begin the frame. After Luzardo retired Carson Kelly and Busch, Orion Kerkering relieved the Philadelphia starter. Kerkering then walked Dansby Swanson to load the bases and followed with a run-scoring walk of Moises Ballesteros, giving the Cubs a 1-0 lead.

Kerkering escaped further trouble, retiring Pete Crow-Armstrong to end the inning.

Philadelphia evened the score in the sixth, as Schwarber connected on his eighth home run of the season — a 386-foot shot to right center.

Tanner Banks (0-1) replaced Kerkering in the bottom of the sixth. Hoerner led off the frame with a single and advanced to third on Happ’s one-out base hit. After Carson Kelly’s two-out walk loaded the bases, Busch drove in a pair with a single to center.

Against Philadelphia reliever Tim Mayza, Hoerner launched a one-out solo homer to push the lead to 4-1. After Alex Bregman’s walk, Suzuki hit his first homer of the season — a 441-footer that extended the margin to five.

Riley Martin replaced Imanaga in the eighth, allowing Schwarber’s two-out walk and Harper’s two-run homer, pulling the Phillies within three.

The Cubs scored their seventh run in the bottom of the eighth, as Philadelphia’s Jose Alvarado’s wild pitch prolonged the visitors’ pitching woes.

Chicago pitcher Jacob Webb allowed Adolis Garcia’s leadoff single in the ninth, before J.T. Realmuto reached on third baseman Scott Kingery’s throwing error. Alec Bohm’s sacrifice fly drove in Garcia, cutting the deficit to 7-4.

After Brandon Marsh’s single, Caleb Thielbar entered for the Cubs. Thielbar retired Edmundo Sosa and Trea Turner to seal the win, securing his second save of the year.

–Field Level Media

J.J. Moser scored 12:48 into overtime, giving the host Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 comeback victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday and evening their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series at one win each.

Tampa Bay fully controlled the game in the extra period and was rewarded when Moser found the net. He gained the puck off a faceoff win in the offensive zone, worked his way to a shooting position at the top of the right circle and wired a top-corner shot for his first career playoff tally.

Montreal, which won Game 1 in overtime, was outshot 9-0 in overtime of Game 2.

The series shifts to Montreal for Game 3 on Friday.

Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel collected a goal and an assist. Nikita Kucherov tallied once, Anthony Cirelli collected two assists and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves for Tampa Bay, which snapped a collection of playoff swoons.

The Lightning had lost four consecutive and 10 of 11 postseason home games, plus seven straight overtime affairs during Stanley Cup playoff action.

Lane Hutson and Josh Anderson tallied for the Canadiens, while goalie Jakub Dobes stopped 31 shots, including eight in overtime.

The clubs traded goals in a chippy first period. Hagel put the Lightning on the board at 8:40 with his team’s first shot on target. The puck came to Hagel at the top of the left circle, and he unloaded a top-corner slap shot that for his third goal of the series.

Hutson tied the clash less then six minutes later with Montreal’s fourth power-play goal in the series. Hutson sent a one-timer from the point position that ricocheted off a defender and into the net for his first career playoff tally.

Anderson gave Montreal the lead with 84 seconds remaining in the second period. Jake Evans won a battle for the puck deep in the Tampa Bay zone and Phillip Danault chipped it to the front of the net, where Anderson was waiting to chip it into the cage for his second goal of the series.

Kucherov evened the score at 12:33 of the third period. Hagel intercepted a poor clearing attempt and fired a long shot wide. Kucherov grabbed the loose puck behind the net and converted a wraparound for his first playoff goal in 17 outings. His last playoff goal came on April 18, 2023, the opener of a first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

–Field Level Media