Alex Wennberg scored 5:35 into overtime to give the New York Rangers a 2-1 series lead on the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final with a thrilling 5-4 win on Sunday.
Wennberg deflected a shot from teammate Ryan Lindgren past Florida netminder Sergei Bobrovsky to move the President's Trophy-winning Rangers within two victories of the Stanley Cup Final, despite the Panthers recording a 37-23 shot advantage for the game.
New York was able to get another standout performance from Igor Shesterskin, however, as well as two goals each from Alexis Lafreniere and Game 2 hero Barclay Goodrow. Shesterskin made 33 saves to outplay Russian counterpart Bobrovsky, who stopped just 18 of 23 shots.
Sam Reinhart had a pair of power-play goals for the Atlantic Division-champion Panthers, who trailed 4-2 after two periods before forcing overtime on goals by Aleksander Barkov and Gustav Forsling in the third.
Florida will attempt to even the series when it hosts Game 4 on Tuesday.
The Rangers registered the two lone goals of the second period - a highlight-reel score from Lafreniere and a short-handed tally by Goodrow - to snap a 2-2 tie, but the Panthers roared back with a dominant third period in which they outshot New York by a 13-4 margin.
Barkov tipped in a shot from Carter Verhaeghe 5:04 into the period to get Florida within 4-3. Less than two minutes later, Forsling skated in untouched before ripping a shot by Shesterskin to tie the contest.
After the series opened with a pair of low-scoring games, each team scored twice during the first period Reinhart began by depositing a backhand into the Rangers' net with Florida on a power play 2:50 in.
Lafreniere and Goodrow scored 25 seconds apart to send the Rangers ahead with under eight minutes elapsed, but Reinhart knocked in another backhander with the Panthers on the power play to forge a 2-2 tie with 5:14 left in the period.
New York regained the lead when Lafreniere split two Florida defenders before slipping a shot under Bobrovsky's pad with 4:37 left in the second. The Panthers had a golden chance to pull even soon afterward, though, when Rangers' defenseman Jacob Trouba was called for a double-minor penalty 2:25 before the second intermission.
Florida failed to control the puck on the ensuing power play, however, and Vincent Trocheck fed Goodrow - who scored the game-winner in New York's 2-1 overtime victory in Game 2 - for a one-timer that extended the lead to 4-2.
NHL: McDavid, Oilers drag Panthers back to Edmonton for Game 6
Connor McDavid scored two goals and set up two others and Evan Bouchard had three assists as the Edmonton Oilers held on for a 5-3 victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night to force Game 6 in the Stanley Cup Final.
Connor Brown, Zach Hyman and Corey Perry also scored for the Oilers, who staved off elimination again to send the series back to Edmonton for Game 6 on Friday.
The Oilers scored the game’s first three goals but had to hold off the Panthers down the stretch and could finally breathe when McDavid scored into an empty net with 19 seconds remaining.
Matthew Tkachuk and Evan Rodrigues had a goal and an assist apiece for Florida, which will see its 30-years-and-counting wait for the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title last at least three more days.
Four more points increased McDavid’s playoff total to 42, the fourth-most in a single postseason in NHL history. The only players ahead of him are Wayne Gretzky (47 in 1985), Mario Lemieux (44 in 1991) and Gretzky (43 in 1988).
This game started just as Game 4 did, with the Oilers scoring short-handed for a 1-0 lead. Brown tallied this time after assisting on Nike Mikkola’s tally on Saturday night.
Hyman doubled the advantage on the power play at 1:58 of the middle period and McDavid made it 3-0 just over three minutes later.
Tkachuk got Florida on the board 1:53 later, but Perry restored the three-goal cushion on a power play with 8:06 left in the second. Rodrigues cut the deficit to 4-2 14 seconds later.
The Panthers were unable to get the equaliser as Stuart Skinner finished with 29 saves.
NHL: Oilers hammer Panthers to avoid sweep in Stanley Cup Final
Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists and the Edmonton Oilers chased playoff MVP candidate Sergei Bobrovsky to extend their season and avoid a sweep with an 8-1 drubbing of the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night.
Dylan Holloway scored twice with an assist and Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse and Ryan McLeod also had goals for the Oilers, who busted out in a big way after they were held to four goals in the first three games of the series.
McDavid scored his first goal of the series, and his three assists gave him 32 to move past Wayne Gretzky (1988) for the most in a single postseason.
Stuart Skinner had his best game of the Cup final with 32 saves.
Bobrovsky was replaced by Anthony Stolarz after Nurse’s goal at 4:59 of the second period made it 5-1. He allowed five goals on 16 shots after yielding four goals on 86 shots in Games 1, 2 and 3.
The Panthers can clinch the franchise’s first Stanley Cup at home in Game 5 on Tuesday night.
Edmonton is bidding to become the first team since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs to erase a 3-0 series deficit at this stage of the playoffs.
Janmark got the Oilers going with a short-handed goal 3:11 into the game and Henrique’s tally 3 1/2 minutes later upped the advantage.
Vladimir Tarasenko’s goal put the Panthers on the board, but Holloway restored the two-goal lead with 5:12 left in the opening period.
McDavid scored 73 seconds into the second period and Nurse’s goal sent Bobrovsky to the bench.
NHL: Panthers hold on to move within win of Stanley Cup title
Sam Reinhart and Aleksander Barkov each had a goal and an assist and the Florida Panthers held on for a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers to take a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night.
Vladimir Tarasenko and Sam Bennett also scored for the Panthers, who can wrap up the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title in Game 4 in Edmonton on Saturday night.
Florida carried a 4-1 lead into the third period, but Philip Broberg scored at 6:02 and Ryan McLeod made it a one-goal game with 5:17 remaining.
The Oilers, however, could not beat Sergei Bobrovsky again and now face the daunting task of trying to win four straight games to bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada for the first time since 1993 – months before the Panthers’ inaugural season.
Only four teams in league playoff history (1975 New York Islanders, 2010 Philadelphia Flyers and 2014 Los Angeles Kings) have won a series after losing the first three games and only once in the final (1942 Toronto Maple Leafs).
Bobrovsky finished with 32 saves to win his sixth straight start. He allowed more than two goals for the first time during that span.
The Panthers showed no ill effects from waiting to fly from South Florida to Alberta, a decision that was questioned when their plane was delayed by storms and got in a few hours late Wednesday – less than 24 hours before puck drop.
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