Rangers hold off Penguins
NHL PLAYOFFS Pittsburgh loses Crosby but still leads series
NEW YORK Filip Chytil scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and the New York Rangers staved off elimination with a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 5 of their firstround playoff series Wednesday night.
Jacob Trouba and Alexis Lafrenière each had a goal and an assist, and Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren also scored for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin, torched for 10 goals over three periods in the previous two games, had 27 saves.
Jake Guentzel had two goals and Kris Letang also scored for Pittsburgh, which leads the best of seven series 3-2. Evgeni Malkin had two assists and Louis Domingue finished with 29 saves.
Penguins star Sidney Crosby left with about seven minutes remaining in the second period with an apparent injury and didn’t return.
Game 6 is Friday in Pittsburgh, and a potential deciding Game 7 would be Sunday back at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers got their first power play of the night early in the third period and took advantage as Chytil got a pass from Lafrenière in the right circle, turned around and whipped a shot past Domingue to put the Rangers ahead 4-3 at 2:53. Lindgren sealed the win with an empty-netter with 16 seconds left.
The Penguins led 2-0 until the Rangers scored on three consecutive shots in a 2:42 span late in the second, with Fox, Lafrenière and Trouba getting the goals.
Trouba put the Rangers ahead another 1:12 later as he skated across the right circle and put a backhander from the middle through Domingue’s skates.
New York’s lead lasted just 13 seconds as Guentzel tied it with his second of the night.
Guentzel has goals in five straight games, tying Jaromir Jagr and Kevin Stevens for the fourth-longest streak in a Penguins post-season. Mario Lemieux (seven games twice and six once) has the top three.
Panthers 5, Capitals 3
Carter Verhaeghe set a Florida post-season record with a fivepoint night, and the Panthers escaped a three-goal deficit to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round series with Washington.
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 back 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.
Nurse suspended
Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse will miss Game 6 of his team’s first-round playoff series with Los Angeles after the NHL suspended him one game for headbutting Kings forward Phillip Danault.
The incident occurred with 10 seconds left in the second period of the Kings’ 5-4 overtime win in Game 5 on Tuesday night in Edmonton. Nurse turned and forcefully drove his helmet into Danault in front of Edmonton’s goal after Oilers goaltender Mike Smith made a save and froze the puck.
The suspension leaves the Oilers without their top defenceman heading into an elimination game Thursday in Los Angeles. The Kings lead the series 3-2.