Rangers, Panthers, Stars even up first-round series
Artemi Panarin and Frank Vatrano each had a goal and two assists and the New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 in Game 2 on Thursday night to even the best-of-7 firstround series.
Chris Kreider, Andrew Copp and Ryan Strome also scored for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin made 39 saves two nights after stopping 79 shots in a triple-overtime loss in Game 1.
Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist, and Jake Guentzel also scored for the Penguins. Louis Domingue, getting the start after replacing the injured Casey DeSmith in the second overtime of Game 1, finished with 34 saves.
The series now shifts to Pittsburgh for the next two games.
PANTHERS 5, CAPITALS 1 >> Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist and Florida beat Washington to even their 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 for Games 3 and 4.
It was just Florida’s sixth win in its last 19 home playoff games going back to 1996, and matched the biggest victory margin in franchise playoff history.
STARS 2, FLAMES 0 >> Jake Oettinger stopped 29 shots for his first playoff win — and first playoff shutout — as Dallas topped Calgary to tie up their first-round series.
Joe Pavelski scored 7:47 into the first period, the only scoring until Michael Raffl scored into an empty net with 1:09 left in the third period.
Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom stopped 21 of 22 shots. Markstrom has allowed just one goal in the first two playoff games.
The series now heads to upset-minded Dallas for the next two games.
AVALANCHE 2, PREDATORS 1, OT >> Colorado had an easy time in Game 1, but not so in Game 2, a hard-fought game decided on Cale Makar’s goal 8:31 into overtime.
Nathan MacKinnon scored for Colorado, which took a 2-0 series lead as the series shifts to Nashville. Yakov Trenin tallied for the Predators.