NEW YORK — Daniel Paille snapped a tie with 3:31 left in the third period, and the Boston Bruins put the New York Rangers on the brink of elimination with a 2-1 victory in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series on Tuesday night.

Boston leads the best-of-seven series 3-0 and can advance to the conference finals as early as Thursday at Madison Square Garden. Only three teams in NHL history have rallied from an 0-3 hole to advance.

The Bruins trailed 1-0 heading into the third, but defenseman Johnny Boychuk tied it at 3:10 of the period with his fourth of the playoffs. The Rangers hadn’t lost in regulation when leading after two periods since Feb. 4, 2010.

Taylor Pyatt had made it 1-0 in the second period for the Rangers.

Sharks 2, Kings 1

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Brent Burns helped San Jose jump off to a fast start with his second goal of the postseason and the Sharks tied their second-round series against Los Angeles at two games with a victory over the Kings in Game 4.

Logan Couture followed up his overtime game-winner in Game 3 with his fifth power-play goal of the playoffs to add to the lead and Antti Niemi made 22 saves as the Sharks matched the Kings’ two home wins to open the series with two of their own.

Mike Richards scored a power-play goal and Jonathan Quick made 21 saves for the Kings.