Rangers thwart Panthers comeback with overtime victory in Game 3 – NBC New York

Igor Shesterkin gave the New York Rangers an opportunity. Alex Wennberg obtained simply sufficient of his stick on the puck to change into the hero.

And similar to that, the Rangers reclaimed home-ice benefit within the Jap Convention finals.

Wennberg deflected the puck previous Sergei Bobrovsky 5:35 into additional time, because the Rangers survived an all-out barrage from the Florida Panthers within the last minutes earlier than escaping with a 5-4 victory — one which gave New York a 2-1 lead within the collection.

“This can be a group,” mentioned Wennberg, who had one purpose in his first 31 video games with the Rangers since being acquired in March from Seattle for draft picks. “It would not matter who’s the hero. It would not matter who does it, we have now everybody combating for each other. Yeah, perhaps I have never put up the identical quantity of factors, however we’re a group. Every little thing we will we do collectively.”

Ryan Lindgren took a shot from the left level and Wennberg — a former Panther, who was parked in entrance of the Florida internet — redirected it previous Bobrovsky for New York’s second consecutive OT game-winner within the collection.

Shesterkin made 34 stops, whereas Alexis Lafrenière scored two targets and Barclay Goodrow continued his stunning playoff barrage with two extra scores for the Rangers. Goodrow has six targets within the playoffs, after 4 in all the common season.

“He is been a key contributor,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette mentioned.

Sam Reinhart had two power-play targets, whereas Aleksander Barkov and Gustav Forsling additionally scored for the Panthers, who’ll play host to Recreation 4 on Tuesday evening. Bobrovsky stopped 18 photographs for Florida, which has dropped back-to-back video games for the primary time in these playoffs.

“Typically you wish to maintain the growl,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice mentioned. “Quite a lot of instances within the playoffs, it is ensuring that you simply maintain that power full, that you simply reduce off your losses and let it go. Then there’s instances you wish to maintain it and eat it and let it burn for some time and discover a totally different form of power supply. … Tonight, try to be a little bit growly.”

New York led 4-2 going into the third. The Rangers have been 26-0-1 this season coming into Sunday in video games the place they led by two or extra targets with 20 minutes remaining.

They made it 27-0-1 — but it surely took some critical doing, and survival of Florida throwing every part it might towards Shesterkin.

Barkov and Forsling scored lower than two minutes aside within the third to erase that two-goal deficit, and Florida caught a break — the precise break — with 7:34 left when Barkov was initially referred to as for a high-stick that will have given the Rangers a 4-minute energy play. However after overview, it was decided that Mika Zibanejad was hit together with his personal stick and the Barkov penalty got here off the board.

From there, the remainder of regulation was, relying on perspective, both all Panthers or all Shesterkin.

During the last 8:10 of the third, the NHL credited 24 shot makes an attempt — all of them by Florida, because the Panthers simply unleashed a barrage on Shesterkin. Of the 24 shot tries, solely six have been on purpose and wanted to be saved; 9 have been blocked, eight missed and one hit the submit.

None discovered the again of the web, and to additional time the groups went.

“Clearly, we’re not pleased with the outcome,” Barkov mentioned.

In all probability lengthy forgotten by the end was the wild begin, a whole flip of how the primary two video games went at Madison Sq. Backyard when Bobrovsky gave up two targets and Shesterkin gave up two targets — not together with an personal purpose and an empty-netter — in 134 minutes of play.

Sunday was totally different. It was 2-2 after quarter-hour.

Reinhart opened the scoring, Lafrenière and Goodrow scored 25 seconds aside — the fifth-fastest pair of targets in Rangers playoff historical past — for a 2-1 New York lead. Reinhart tied it later within the first on a purpose similar to his first one, a backhander he lifted previous Shesterkin from down low.

Lafrenière and Goodrow every tallied once more within the second, Florida answered within the third. However it was the Rangers who struck final, and so they’re now simply two wins away from their first journey to the Stanley Cup Closing since 2014.

“This group, we have now that perception,” Wennberg mentioned. “Possibly not probably the most vocal form of factor, however all of us take a look at one another and we all know what to do.”