Rangers recover, defeat Panthers in OT in Game 3 of Eastern Final

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Alex Wennberg scored at 5:35 of overtime for the New York Rangers, who recovered for a 5-4 win against the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday.

Wennberg won it when Ryan Lindgren's shot from the left point deflected in off the shaft of his stick in front. It was his first goal in 13 games this postseason and just his second in 32 total games with the Rangers since being acquired in a trade with the Seattle Kraken on March 6.

“It’s amazing," Wennberg said. “It was an intense game, went back-and-forth. You see the puck go to the net and there is a burst of energy, a burst of feelings. It is great, obviously.”

The Rangers, who also won 2-1 in overtime in Game 2 on Friday, lead the best-of-7 series 2-1. Game 4 will be here on Tuesday.

Alexis Lafrenière and Barclay Goodrow each scored twice, and Lindgren, Jacob Trouba and Vincent Trocheck each had two assists for New York, which is the No. 1 seed from the Metropolitan Division. Igor Shesterkin made 33 saves.

“We needed to go back to work, get back on the attack and on the forecheck,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said of his message to his team after blowing a two-goal lead in the third period. “We took on a lot of heat in the third period. ... The message was to get back to work and be comfortable in what we were doing."

Sam Reinhart scored twice, Aleksander Barkov had a goal and an assist, and Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe each had two assists for Florida, which is the No. 1 seed from the Atlantic Division. Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves.

“Sometimes you want to keep the growl,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “A lot of times in the playoffs it is about keeping your energy going. Cut off losses, let it go. Then there are times you want to keep it, to eat it, let it burn for a little while and find a different kind of energy source."

Reinhart gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 2:50 of the first period. He cut to the net along the goal line and lifted a backhand under Shesterkin's right arm.

Lafreniere tied it 1-1 at 7:17, roofing a backhand over Bobrovsky's glove on a partial breakaway after avoiding a diving check by Vladimir Tarasenko.

Goodrow scored 25 seconds later on a redirection of Braden Schneider's shot from the right point to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

Reinhart responded with his second power-play goal of the period to tie it 2-2 at 14:46. His backdoor pass for Barkov deflected five-hole off the skate of Trouba.

“We need to move on, refocus and recover,” Reinhart said.

Lafreniere put the Rangers back in front 3-2 at 15:23 of the second period. He skated through the neutral zone and into the top of the left circle before toe-dragging Dmitry Kulikov and scoring with a backhand from in front while being knocked to the ice by Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Goodrow made it 4-2 at 18:14, scoring a short-handed goal with a one-timer from the left circle off a pass from Trocheck.

It was New York's fifth short-handed goal this postseason. No other team has more than two.

“Each game brings its own storyline," said Goodrow, who scored the overtime winner in Game 2. “We did a good job of managing things and winning it in OT."

Barkov got the Panthers to within 4-3 at 5:04 of the third period when Verhaeghe's centering pass deflected in off him at the edge of the crease.

Gustav Forsling tied it 4-4 at 6:58. Evan Rodrigues won a face-off back to Tkachuk, who quickly passed to a cutting Forsling for a wrist shot from the left circle.

Florida outshot New York 18-8 in the third period and overtime but couldn't find that one extra goal.

“The third was probably the toughest period of the series so far,” Laviolette said. “We were up 4-2 and under siege. They capitalized. That was their best period. ... It was moving in their direction.”

NOTES: The Rangers are 4-0 in overtime this postseason. The Panthers are 1-2. ... New York recorded its 34th comeback win this season (regular season and playoffs), the most in NHL history.