Simon Gagne scored the advance goal with 13:06 left over and Tampa Bay rallied from a 3 goal shortfall Saturday to defeat Boston 5-3 and level their National Hockey League semi-final playoff series.

The Lightning entwined the best of 7 Eastern Conference championship series at 3 wins each with gave 5 on Monday in Boston. The winner will face either San Jose or Vancouver in the Stanley Cup Final.

Boston jumped ahead 3-0 after the first period but Tampa Bay netted 3 goals in response in the 2nd period, setting the platform for Gagne's 4th goal of the playoffs to put the Lightning ahead to stay.

"We believed in ourselves," Gagne said. "There was plenty of hockey left to be played. We were talking between the 1st and the 2nd. We talked about getting that 1st goal and from there we just kept in going. We had no option.

"It was a huge game for us."

The Bruins, who have not won the Cup since 1972 and have not entered in the final from year 1990, pulled goaltender Tim Thomas for an additional attacker in the dying seconds but surrendered an empty-net goal to Martin St. Louis.

Boston's Patrice Bergeron opened the scoring with an unaided tally 11:47 into the opening period and Michael Ryder put Boston ahead 2-0 with his 5th goal of the playoffs 16:34 into the first period.

Just 82 seconds later, Bergeron struck again with a short-handed unaided goal to put the Bruins on top 3-0 and prompt Tampa Bay to restore starting goaltender Dwayne Roloson with Mike Smith, who congested all twenty five shots he faced.

"I just wanted to come in there and give my team a chance to win the match," Smith said. "It came out good."

Teddy Purcell put the Lightning on the scoreboard with a backhand goal 6:55 into the 2nd period.

Purcell found the back of the net again just 2:03 later off a pass from Vincent Lecavalier, lifting Tampa Bay within 3-2.

The Lightning equalized 10:53 into the period on Sean Bergenheim's 9th goal of the playoffs.