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Bruins put Lightning on the brink

The puck flies by the nose of Tampa Bay Lightning center Blair Jones, left, after a save by Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. (Associated Press)
The puck flies by the nose of Tampa Bay Lightning center Blair Jones, left, after a save by Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. (Associated Press)

NHL: Tim Thomas stopped 33 shots after allowing another early goal, and Brad Marchand scored the game-winner to lead the Bruins to a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night in Boston and put the Bruins one win away from the Stanley Cup finals.

The victory gave Boston a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference finals, with a chance to clinch Wednesday night in Tampa Bay. The Lightning would need to win Game 6 to force a seventh game in Boston on Friday.

Nathan Horton scored to tie it in the second period, 17 seconds after returning from the penalty box. Marchand scored with 4:04 left in the period to give Boston a 2-1 lead.

Boston managed just 19 shots on Mike Smith as he made his first career playoff start in place of Dwayne Roloson.

• Thornton gets okay for Game 5: San Jose coach Todd McLellan says captain Joe Thornton will play Game 5 of the Western Conference final for the Sharks despite leaving the previous game with an injury.

Thornton leads the Sharks with 17 points this postseason.

Defenseman Jason Demers practiced for the first time this series and says it’s up to the coaches whether he will play. Demers missed the first four games with an undisclosed injury.

Raikkonen to run Nationwide race

Auto racing: Former Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen will make his Nationwide Series debut on Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C.

Raikkonen was listed on the entry release that came out as driver for the No. 87 Toyota for NEMCO Motorsports. The car is owned by Joe Nemechek, but he made a deal with Kyle Busch to let Raikkonen drive Saturday.

Raikkonen has given no indication how far he plans to take his NASCAR venture. He’s said only that he’s trying NASCAR to see how he likes it, and will base his progression off of that.

• Hunter-Reay may get Indy 500 ride: Ryan Hunter-Reay, the only American to win an IndyCar race since April 2008, could find himself in A.J. Foyt’s No. 41 car, which was qualified by Brazil’s Bruno Junqueira.

Hunter-Reay drives full-time for Michael Andretti, but was bumped from the 33-car field on the final qualifying attempt when teammate Marco Andretti, Michael’s son, put his car back on the grid.

Brian Barnhart, IndyCar president of competition and racing operations, says the teams are discussing the move.

If Hunter-Reay replaces Junqueira, he would start from the back of the field.

Djokovic extends 2011 winning streak

Tennis: Novak Djokovic extended his perfect season right into the French Open, beating Thiemo de Bakker 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 in the first round.

The second-seeded Serb improved his 2011 record to 38-0 – and stretched his winning streak to 40 – on the second day of the tournament at Roland Garros in Paris.

Roger Federer also earned a win, beating Feliciano Lopez of Spain later, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

On the women’s side, top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki defeated 40-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan 6-0, 6-2.

In the opening match on center court, defending champion Francesca Schiavone beat Melanie Oudin of the United States 6-2, 6-0.

• Florida, Stanford set women’s final: Allie Will clinched top-ranked and second-seeded Florida’s 4-0 victory over UCLA in the NCAA women’s national team semifinals in Stanford, Calif., sending the Gators to their second straight final and 12th overall.

Will beat UCLA’s McCall Jones, 7-5, 6-2, as the Gators (30-1) won their 20th straight. Florida’s lone loss came to top-seeded and second-ranked Stanford on Feb. 21 in the championship match of the National Indoor Team Championship.

The Stanford Cardinal (28-0) reached the final with a 4-1 victory over Baylor. Mallory Burdette clinched the match with her 7-5, 6-4 win over Nina Secerbegovic at No. 2 singles.

• USC, Virginia advance to men’s final: Steve Johnson and Daniel Nguyen earned wins to lead second-seeded Southern California past Georgia 4-0 in Stanford, Calif., to reach its third straight NCAA championship match.

Johnson set the tone with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Wil Spencer and Nguyen clinched the win with a 6-3, 6-2 decision over Sadio Doumbia. Johnson, the top-ranked collegiate player in the nation, won his 28th consecutive match. He hasn’t lost since Jan. 17.

The two-time defending national champion Trojans (26-2) will face top-ranked Virginia (34-0) today. The Cavaliers beat Ohio State 4-2 to reach its first final.