NEW YORK: Carter Verhaeghe scored twice — including the go-ahead tally in the third period — and added three primary assists as the Florida Panthers rallied from a three-goal deficit to defeat the Washington Capitals, 5-3, on Wednesday night in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series at Sunrise, Florida.
The top-seeded Panthers lead the best-of-seven series 3-2. The eighth-seeded Capitals will host Game 6 on Friday night, hoping to stave off elimination.
Verhaeghe has set a team record with five goals in a playoff series. On his go-ahead goal with 16:56 left in the third, Verhaeghe’s backcheck stripped the puck from Capitals star Alex Ovechkin. Verhaeghe then passed ahead to Aleksander Barkov before finishing the 2-on-1 rush.
T.J. Oshie scored twice, and Ilya Samsonov made 33 saves to lead Washington. Justin Schultz added one goal, and Evgeny Kuznetsov added two assists.
Rangers 5, Penguins 3
Filip Chytil scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period on the power play and New York rallied from a 2-0 second-period deficit to stave off playoff elimination with a victory over visiting Pittsburgh.
It was the first career playoff goal for Chytil, who was the 21st overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft by the Rangers.
Jacob Trouba and Alexis Lafreniere each had a goal and an assist and Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren also scored goals for the Rangers, who still trail the best-of-seven first round Eastern Conference series, 3-2. Game 6 is Friday night in Pittsburgh. Vezina finalist Igor Shesterkin stopped 29 of 32 shots.
Flames 3, Stars 1
Andrew Mangiapane scored the winning goal and host Calgary netted three unanswered third-period tallies to claim a victory over Dallas in Game 5 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series.
Mikael Backlund and Trevor Lewis also scored for the Flames, who hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Both Mangiapane and Backlund also collected an assist. Calgary’s Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves to claim another goaltending battle.
Jason Robertson scored for the Stars, while goaltender Jake Oettinger made 29 saves in a strong outing.
