Wennberg Overtime Hero as Rangers beat Panthers 5-4 in Game 3 – Hockey Writers – New York Rangers
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 finals. After video review, it was determined that Alex Wennberg was the hero after redirecting 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 into his sixth game of the playoffs. Four goals were scored in the first by Alexis Lafreniere and Barclay Goodrow in response for the Rangers and Reinhart bookended the festivities in the seventh.
In the second half, the Rangers got two goals ahead with Lafreniere and Goodrow combining to make it 4-2 going into the third. The Panthers then came back with two goals by Aleksander Barkov and Gustav Forsling to tie the game and send it to overtime for the second game in a row. Early in the extra frame, Wennberg got the winner when he redirected Ryan Lindgren’s shot from the penalty spot with his glove.
Unlike the first two games, this was not a duel of strikers. After Bobrovsky went 3-0 in Game 1 and Shesterkin faced just one goal in Game 2, they combined for nine goals against in Game 3. Shesterkin finished with 34 saves on 38 shots. with a .895 save percentage (SV% ) and Bobrovsky stopped 18 of 23 for a .783 SV%.
Game notes
Shesterkin (34 saves) earned his 10th postseason win for the second time in his career (10 in 2022) – only Henrik Lundqvist (3x) has achieved more with the franchise.
Reinhart scored his 13th game of the season (12 in the regular season and one in the playoffs), marking 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 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs to surpass his total of 82 in four regular season games. He became the fifth player in franchise history to exceed his total goals from the regular season during the playoffs (min. 10 GP in the 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 at 1-1 and joined Alex Kovalev (13-19—32 in 33 GP) and Don Maloney (8-23—31 in 40 GP) as the end of the players. in Ranger history with 20 career playoff points before their 23rd birthday.
The two teams will meet again in Game 4 on Tuesday, May 28.
Notes from the NHL.com Media Site
