Bruins defeat Hurricanes in Game 3 of Eastern First Round, lead series

The Boston Bruins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Saturday, their first game without Tuukka Rask.

Rask was expected to start before it was announced prior to the game that the goalie opted out and would not play for the remainder of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Jaroslav Halak made 29 saves, and Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand each had a goal and an assist for Boston, the No. 4 seed in the East, which leads the best-of-7 series 2-1.

WATCH:[All Bruins vs. Hurricanes highlights]

"[Halak] is a popular guy, and they know his abilities," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "You know, now it could be his turn to have a nice run. ... Maybe this is [Halak's] year. Tuukka had a great run last year. So that's certainly something we can rally around, but by the same token, it wasn't going to be the end of the world to have [Halak] in there."

It was Halak's first start in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since April 27, 2015, when he was with the New York Islanders. He allowed four goals in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, making 25 saves in a 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Aug. 2.

Rask had started 78 consecutive Bruins games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including Games 1 and 2 of this series.

Petr Mrazek made 36 saves, and Nino Niederreiter scored for Carolina, the No. 5 seed in the East.

"It's always about the next game," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It's always about tomorrow, if you have one. We definitely still have time."

Game 4 is in Toronto, the East hub city, on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS, FS-CR, NESN). Teams that win Game 3 after a playoff series is tied 1-1 are 215-106 (67 percent) winning a best-of-7 series.

Coyle gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 14 seconds into the second period. He batted a rebound off a shot by Marchand out of midair glove side.

Sean Kuraly scored shorthanded to make it 2-0 at 1:16 of the third period when he redirected a pass from Coyle.

"When you're playing that, [penalty kill] and power play, you're always in a situation no matter what happens during the game," Coyle said. "I think more players than not are going to find their legs a little more, and it's easier to stay in the game that way, because you're involved in those situations. If that's the case, that's what they have me doing, then I have to take advantage of that opportunity."

Niederreiter made it 2-1 on a power play at 6:30 of the third. He gloved a clearing attempt by Halak from behind the net and scored on a backhand into the open net.

"Mistakes, they happen," Halak said. "We try to make the right play out there and I saw an opening, I tried to shoot it out, and you know, the guy caught it. It ended up in the net, but you know … we were still up. I know I gave them a little bit of life, but I think we responded the right way.

"We kept playing our game until the end. You have to give credit to our guys, just stepping up. Guys coming into the lineup and playing hard. That's playoff hockey."

Marchand scored an empty-net goal with 31 seconds left for the 3-1 final.

The Hurricanes were outshot 32-15 in the final two periods after outshooting the Bruins 15-7 in the first.

"We came out in the first, I thought we had a really good first period," Carolina forward Justin Williams said. "Then I don't [know] about after that, if it was going to be like that the whole time or we got pushed back. I'm not sure what it was. They pushed back, and that's what they do.

"They're a championship hockey team over there. A lot of pedigree over there. A lot of playoff experience. We weren't ready for the pushback. As a result, we had to chase the game."

Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov left with 4:38 remaining in the third period after getting tangled with Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara. Svechnikov was helped off the ice by teammates before going to the locker room.

Brind'Amour said he had no update on Svechnikov following the game.

"I know he's getting looked at right now," Brind'Amour said. "It didn't look very good, obviously. Fell really awkward. Certainly, didn't look good. We'll have more, obviously, at some point. … I hate it for him. I can't even comment on anything else, to be honest with you."

Bruins forward David Pastrnak (unfit) missed his second straight game. As part of the NHL Return to Play Plan, a team is not permitted to disclose player injury or illness information.

This was the first Stanley Cup Playoff start for Boston by someone other than Rask since April 25, 2012, when Tim Thomas started and lost Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals 4-3 to the Washington Capitals.

NHL.com staff writer Amalie Benjamin contributed to this report