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Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 20: Rangers take 3-0 series lead with Panarin OT winner
© James Guillory

Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 20: Rangers take 3-0 series lead with Panarin OT winner

Originally posted on Daily Faceoff  |  By Scott Maxwell  |  Last updated 5/10/24

The Carolina Hurricanes looked to avoid a dreaded 0-3 deficit back at home while the Stars needed a bounceback win after a 3-0 blown lead during Thursday’s playoff action.

Panarin’s scores in OT to push Canes to brink

Even though the Carolina Hurricanes hadn’t lost on home ice yet, there was still an underlying sense of trouble facing a 0-2 deficit to the New York Rangers, and they needed a win in Game 3. But the Rangers also had some help coming back with Filip Chytil finally making his return to the lineup.

It did start out well for the Canes, as Jake Guentzel gave them the 1-0 lead in the first by deflecting a Dmitry Orlov point shot, and they also had several opportunities on the power play to increase their lead throughout the first half of the game. But then the worst case scenario happened. Brent Burns made a turnover on the blueline to Mika Zibanejad, creating an odd-man rush the other way, and Zibanejad set up Chris Kreider for the shorthanded goal to tie the game. The Rangers nearly took the lead on that same penalty kill, as Vincent Trocheck also got a breakaway opportunity, but Pyotr Kochetkov stopped that one.

Unfortunately for the Canes, it was still the Rangers that got the next goal courtesy of Alexis Lafreniere, and suddenly the pressure was all on the Canes to tie this game up. They pressed late in the third period and with the goalie pulled, Andrei Svechnikov buried the tying goal with 96 seconds left off of a broken play, and like Game 2, we needed overtime. Would the Rangers create a stranglehold on the series, or would the Hurricanes make it close?

We didn’t need a lot of time to find out the answer. Just 1:43 into the extra frame, Artemi Panarin deflected a Trocheck backhander to end the game with a 3-2 win for New York, and take a 3-0 lead in the series. Panarin, Lafreniere, Trocheck and Svechnikov all had multi-point nights for their respective teams, while Igor Shesterkin was phenomenal again by stopping 45 of 47 shots in the win.

Heiskanen scores twice as Stars stave off another late rally from Avs

After blowing a 3-0 lead to the Colorado Avalanche in Game 1, the Dallas Stars needed a bounce back performance in Game 2 to avoid a similar situation to what they faced in the first round.

Much like the Canes in Thursday’s earlier game, things started off well for the Stars in the first period. On the power play, Roope Hintz made a great pass across the zone to set up Miro Heiskanen of all players for the one-timer to give Dallas the 1-0 lead.

But unlike the Canes, the Stars built on that lead in the second. And when I say they built on it, I mean they built on it. Hintz got a goal of his own two minutes into the period, Heiskanen scored his second power play goal of the game (from the point this time), and when the Avs had a chance to start a repeat of Game 1’s comeback with a power play late in the second, a chance the other way eventually ended up in the back of the net courtesy of Tyler Seguin.

Of course, any lead still felt uneasy for Stars fans after what happened in Game 1, so when Joel Kiviranta scored four minutes into the third, there was already tension for what could have very well amounted to a garbage goal. But a couple more goals for the Avs from Brandon Duhaime and Valeri Nichushkin later, and this was a close game with a chance at another crazy comeback in this series.

But, the fourth goal never came. After some pressure and a late power play from the Avs, Esa Lindell secured the win with the empty net goal, and the Stars would tied the series with a 5-3 victory. Heiskanen couldn’t complete the hat trick and finished the night with two goals, while Hintz had a stellar four-point performance with a goal and three assists.

This article first appeared on Daily Faceoff and was syndicated with permission.

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