Hurricanes defeat Bruins in Game 2 of Eastern First Round, even series

Dougie Hamilton scored the go-ahead goal for the Carolina Hurricanes at 8:30 of the third period in a 3-2 win against the Boston Bruins in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday.

James Reimer made 33 saves, and Andrei Svechnikov had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, who tied the best-of-7 series. Reimer started for No. 5-seeded Carolina after Petr Mrazek made 36 saves in a 4-3 double-overtime loss in Game 1 on Wednesday.

"It was just one of those nights that I felt like good things were going to happen to us," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "Just the way our engagement, from the start of the game. Like I said, every time something seemed to go against us, we felt like we bounced back.

"It just evens the series. It's nothing to get overly excited about, but at least it gets us back to square one."

WATCH: [All Hurricanes vs. Bruins highlights]

Brad Marchand and David Krejci each had a goal and an assist, and Tuukka Rask made 23 saves for Boston, which played without forward David Pastrnak.

Pastrnak was deemed unfit to play after coach Bruce Cassidy said he intended to use the same lineup from Game 1 if everyone was healthy. As part of the NHL Return to Play Plan, a team is not permitted to disclose player injury or illness information.

Cassidy said Pastrnak would likely be a game-time decision for Game 3 in Toronto, the East hub city, on Saturday (Noon ET; NBC, SN, TVAS).

"It's our turn to push back," Cassidy said. "We're a good team at correcting things as we go along. We feel that hurt us the game before, so we'll look at why we gave up some goals from the interior. Better puck support from breakouts. … Having said that, I thought we had some good looks as well."

Hamilton, who played his first three NHL seasons with Boston (2012-15), gave Carolina a 3-2 lead with a one-timer from the right face-off circle. In Game 1, he played for the first time since having surgery Jan. 17 to repair a fractured left fibula.

"It obviously feels good," Hamilton said. "I guess for seven months, you're thinking about that kind of stuff, playing the game, scoring a goal, what it feels like. And that's kind of what fuels you when you're in those tough moments in rehab. It feels great."

It was Hamilton's second game-winning goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and his first since he scored for the Bruins against the Detroit Red Wings in Game 3 of the first round on April 22, 2014.

Teuvo Teravainen and Svechnikov gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead with goals 1:28 apart in the second period after Krejci made it 1-0 with a power-play goal at 15:41 of the first.

Teravainen tied it 1-1 with a wrist shot blocker side on a power play at 15:13 before Svechnikov scored on a snap shot from the slot at 16:41.

Marchand scored a power-play goal with five seconds remaining in the second to tie it 2-2. He tipped a shot from Patrice Bergeron off the left post before collecting the puck and scoring with a wrist shot from just outside the crease.

"We know [the Hurricanes] are a great team," Marchand said. "They're in the playoffs for a reason. They ran through [the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers]. They've shown that they're ready to play. … The teams that are the best conditioned and work the hardest, that's going to pay off. We knew they were going to push."

The Bruins scored twice on three power plays after going 0-for-13 in their first four games this postseason.

"Obviously, they scored two goals in power play, so we shouldn't take those penalties," Hurricanes forward Martin Necas said. "But other than that, I think 5-on-5 was pretty good. So we just wanted to keep playing like that."

Boston has lost four of five postseason games, including all three in the round-robin portion of the Qualifiers (0-3-0). The Bruins fell to the No. 4 seed in the East after leading the NHL during the regular season with a .714 points percentage.

Rask has started four of those five games, losing three.

"You're not really used to playing back-to-backs in the playoffs," said Rask, who made 25 saves in Game 1. "They don't really happen too often, so I didn't feel tired. I felt good, but too bad we lost."

Hurricanes forward Justin Williams and defenseman Sami Vatanen each had two shots on goal after being unfit to play Game 1. Carolina defenseman Joel Edmundson was unfit to play.

NHL.com staff writer Amalie Benjamin contributed to this report