In a back-and-forth affair, the New York Rangers beat the Florida Panthers 5-4 in overtime to take a 2-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final. After a video review, it was determined that Alex Wennberg was the hero after he redirected it past Sergei Bobrovsky with what appeared to be his glove.
Sam Reinhart got the party started early for the Panthers less than three minutes in with his sixth of the playoffs. Four goals were scored in the first with Alexis Lafreniere and Barclay Goodrow responding for the Rangers and Reinhart bookending the festivities with his seventh.
The second period saw the Rangers grab a two-goal lead with Lafreniere and Goodrow tallying again for a 4-2 advantage heading into the third. The Panthers then stormed back with two goals by Aleksander Barkov and Gustav Forsling to tie the game and send it to overtime for the second straight game. Early in the extra frame, Wennberg got the winner when he redirected a Ryan Lindgren shot from the point with his glove.
Unlike the first two games, this was not a goaltender’s duel. After Bobrovsky posted a 3-0 shutout in Game 1 and Shesterkin countered with only one goal against in Game 2, they combined for nine goals against in Game 3. Shesterkin finished with 34 saves on 38 shots for a .895 save percentage (SV%) and Bobrovsky stopped 18 of 23 for a .783 SV%.
Game Notes
Shesterkin (34 saves) earned his 10th win in a single postseason for the second time in his career (10 in 2022) – a feat only Henrik Lundqvist (3x) has achieved multiple times with the franchise.
Reinhart scored his 13th multi-goal game this season (12 in regular season and one in playoffs), which marks the highest combined total during a single campaign in franchise history.
Related: 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs Conference Finals Hub
Goodrow (5-2—7 in 13 GP) scored his fifth goal in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs to surpass his 82-game total of four from the regular season. He became the fifth forward in franchise history to surpass his goal total from the regular season during the ensuing playoffs (min. 10 GP in regular season), joining Brian Boyle (2013), Steven Rice (1991), Peter Wallin (1981) and Murray Murdoch (1937).
Lafrenière (7-13—20 in 40 GP) scored to tie the game 1-1 and joined Alex Kovalev (13-19—32 in 33 GP) and Don Maloney (8-23—31 in 40 GP) as the only players in Rangers history with 20 career playoff points before their 23rd birthday.
The two teams will meet again for Game 4 on Tuesday, May 28.
Notes from NHL.com Media Site
