Zibanejad’s OT goal lifts Rangers

Mika Zibanejad scored at 14:22 of overtime to give the New York Rangers a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.

Chris Kreider’s shot on a rush went off Alexei Emelin’s stick right to Zibanejad for a shot into an open side.

The Rangers grabbed a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series and will look to advance when they host Game 6 on Saturday.

Jesper Fast and Brady Skjei also scored for New York. Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves.

Artturi Lehkonen scored and set up a goal by Brendan Gallagher in the first period for Montreal. Carey Price had 33 stops.

Montreal then struck first when Lehkonen fought off Marc Staal to put a spin-around shot off the side of the net and score on a wraparound at 12:07.

The Rangers responded with a short-handed goal. Kevin Hayes was in the box for holding when Fast finished a 2-on-2 counterattack after taking a slick feed from Zibanejad at 15:56. Roman Josi scored twice, Pekka Rinne had 30 saves and Nashville beat Chicago to complete a surprising sweep of the Western Conference’s top seed.

Colton Sissons also scored and Viktor Arvidsson added an emptynet goal as Nashville completed the franchise’s first playoff sweep. Led by Rinne’s shutouts in the first two games, the Predators limited the high-scoring Blackhawks to just three goals in 13 periods.

Nashville will face the winner of the St. Louis-Minnesota series in the second round.

Chicago became the first No. 1 seed to lose in the opening round since the Kings knocked off the Canucks on their way to the Stanley Cup title in 2012. Sidney Crosby and Scott Wilson scored 51 seconds apart in the third period, helping the Penguins eliminate the Blue Jackets in Game 5 of their first-round series.

Bryan Rust scored twice for Pittsburgh, Phil Kessel added his second of the playoffs and Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 49 saves. The defending Stanley Cup champions will face the winner of the TorontoWashington series in the conference semifinals starting next week.

William Karlsson and Boone Jenner scored for the Blue Jackets.

RYAN REMIORZ — THE CANADIAN PRESS VIA AP Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) celebrates with teammates Nick Holden (22) and Pavel Buchnevich (89) after scoring the game-winning goal during against the Canadiens during Game 5 Thursday in Montreal.