Rangers skate past Penguins, stay alive
Filip Chytil scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and the Rangers staved off elimination with a 5-3 victory over the Penguins in New York on Wednesday in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
Jacob Trouba and Alexis Lafreniere 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.
Pittsburgh All-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 Lafreniere in the right circle, turned around and whipped a shot past Domingue for a 4-3 lead at 2:53.
Pittsburgh pulled Domingue for an extra skater with about 11⁄2 minutes remaining. He returned briefly 20 seconds later during a stoppage in play and left the ice again. Lindgren sealed the win with an emptynetter with 16 seconds left.
Panthers 5, Capitals 3: Carter Verhaeghe set a Florida postseason record with a five-point night and the host Panthers escaped a three-goal deficit to beat Washington and take a 3-2 lead in an East first-round 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.
T.J. Oshie scored twice for Washington.
⏩ Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse will miss Game 6 of a first-round series with the Kings on Thursday after the NHL suspended him one game for head-butting Los Angeles forward Phillip Danault on Tuesday.
Minor matters: The San Jose Barracuda, the Sharks’ top minor-league affiliate, will host the 2024 American Hockey League All-Star Game, Sharks general manager Joe Will said in a statement. The Barracuda are scheduled to open the 4,200-seat Tech CU Arena at Sharks Ice at San Jose next year.
The event will include the skills competition Feb. 4, 2024, and the All-Star Challenge the following day.
“Hosting the AHL All-Star Classic is an incredible opportunity to shine light on the City of San Jose, our facilities and our organization,” Sharks acting general manager Joe Will said in a statement.