Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 10: Panthers, Rangers, Flames all make big comebacks to win

Scott Maxwell
Scott Maxwell
Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 10: Panthers, Rangers, Flames all make big comebacks to win
Credit: © Jasen Vinlove

It was a night of comebacks in the Stanley Cup playoffs as some teams were looking to take series leads and some were looking to live another day.

Missed anything? Here’s a recap of the night’s action.

Crosby injured as Rangers overcome 2-0 deficit to stay alive

Carrying the momentum of two straight wins in Pittsburgh, the Penguins opened Game 5 with a 2-0 lead. Jake Guentzel would extend his goal streak in the playoffs, and Kris Letang would get his first of the postseason. The Penguins were starting to look like they’d be the next team to move on to the second round.

But then, Sidney Crosby got hurt. He suffered a hit from Jacob Trouba a few shifts after the Letang goal, and that seemed to change everything for the Rangers. For more on the hit, we have you covered here.

Something just snapped in this game, and it was goals galore after that. The two teams would combine for four goals in 2:55, with the Rangers scoring the first three to make the comeback and take the lead, and then Guentzel would score his second of the game to tie it before the intermission.

Filip Chytil would then get the go-ahead goal early in the third period, and that would hold as the game winner in this 5-3 thriller. Igor Shesterkin wouldn’t exactly have a bounce-back game, only stopping 29 of 32 shots for a .906 save percentage, but I’m sure he’ll take that over what he experienced in Pittsburgh in this series.

Verhaeghe has five-point game as Panthers make 3-0 comeback to win

Regardless of the outcome of this series, the Washington Capitals have made the Florida Panthers work for this series win a lot more than many thought they would. They definitely had the Panthers scared early in the game again as they would explode to a 3-0 lead, including two goals from T.J. Oshie.

But Carter Verhaeghe had other ideas. The Panthers forward had a phenomenal game as he would contribute on all five goals in their 5-3 comeback win with two goals and three assists. He even got the game winner, which seemed fitting for the evening.

The teams got into a couple of altercations late in the game once it was clear the Panthers would win, but it seemed the Caps just did it for pride. Now they head back to Washington facing elimination, with one last chance to show the fight they’ve put on all series.

Flames make comeback with three-goal third period to take series lead

While coming back from down 1-0 isn’t quite as impressive considering the other games that happened tonight, I think if you adjust for how low scoring this Dallas Stars-Calgary Flames series has been, it certainly makes it more impressive.

It’s especially been low scoring in Calgary, where only two goals have been scored on a goalie. That trend continued through the first two periods tonight as well, as Jason Robertson would score the only goal through 40 in the second period to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. It seemed like Jake Oettinger would be tough to beat again for Calgary.

But Mikael Backlund and Andrew Mangiapane would combine for a couple of goals in the third, first Mangiapane to Backlund, then Backlund to Mangiapane to take lead in the third, and they’d hang on for the 3-1 win to take the lead in the series.

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