Panthers rebound from Game 1 loss to tie series

SUNRISE, FLA. » Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist and the Florida Panthers beat the Washington Capitals 5-1 on Thursday night to even the Eastern Conference first-round series at a game apiece.

Aaron Ekblad, Anton Lundell and Mason Marchment also scored for Florida, the top overall seed in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots.

Nicklas Backstrom scored for Washington. Vitek Vanecek gave up five goals on 18 shots in the first two periods, and Ilya Samsonov went into the Capitals’ net for the third period — stopping all 17 shots he faced in the final 20 minutes.

The series shifts to Washington, with Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday night. RANGERS 5, PENGUINS 2 » Artemi Panarin and Frank Vatrano each had a goal and two assists and New York beat Pittsburgh in Game 2 to tie the series.