Panthers rally from 3 goals down

Carter Verhaeghe set a Florida postseason record with a five-point night, and the Florida Panthers escaped a three-goal deficit to beat the visiting Washington Capitals, 5-3, and take a 3-2 lead in an Eastern Conference firstround series.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots for Florida, which trailed 3-0 in the second period. Verhaeghe had two goals and three assists for the Panthers.

Patric Hornqvist, Claude Giroux and Sam Reinhart also scored for the Panthers, and Aleksander Barkov had two assists.

Verhaeghe broke the Panthers’ playoff scoring record that Ray Sheppard set on a four-point night on April 22, 1996 — which remains the last, and only, season in which the Panthers won a playoff series.

They can change that Friday, when Game 6 is played in Washington. Game 7, if necessary, would be back at Florida on Sunday.

This was the season of the comeback for Florida, which had an NHL-best 29 comefrom-behind wins during the regular season. The Panthers pulled off five wins after trailing by three goals, and rallied in the final moments of Game 4 to force overtime in Washington before winning early in the extra session and tying the series.

Florida’s rally matched the largest in an NHL playoff game since April 19, 2011, when San Jose erased a fourgoal deficit to beat the Los Angeles Kings, 6-5.

Other game

Flames 3, Stars 1: Mikael Backlund, Andrew Mangiapane and Trevor Lewis all scored in the third period to lead Calgary to a win against visiting Dallas to go up 3-2 in the series. Calgary goalie Jacob Markstrom ended the night with 20 saves.

Note

Los Angeles is one of four NHL teams carrying a 3-2 series lead into Thursday night — along with Toronto, St. Louis and Carolina — with a chance to advance in Game 6 on what should be a thrilling evening of postseason hockey.