Panthers avoid elimination as Tkachuk posts overtime winner to extend series vs. Bruins

Matthew Tkachuk scored six minutes into overtime to help the Panthers beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Wednesday night and send their first-round playoff series back to Florida for Game 6.

Sergey Bobrovsky made 44 saves for Florida, which has won back-to-back games in Boston but lost twice at home. Anthony Duclair, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart also scored, each leading the Panthers.

Patrice Bergeron scored a goal after injury and Ullmark stopped 21 shots for the Bruins. Brad Marchand and Taylor Hall had the other goals for Boston, who combined from 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 deficits to force overtime.

It was 2-1 Florida when Bergeron tied the game five seconds into Boston’s power play, tipping Marchand’s shot into the net. Moments later, Tkachuk hit a penalty on Jakub Lauko and Reinhart gave the Panthers a quick lead.

With about 10 minutes left in regulation, Hall fought for a layup, turned and put it into the net to tie the game at 3-3. The Panthers fumbled in the Boston zone with 8 seconds left, but Marchand cleared the box and chased it down to break the ice.

Bobrovsky turned him aside with 1 second left on the clock.

Kraken take command of the series vs. Avalanche

Tye Kartye scored in his NHL debut and the Seattle Kraken walked away with a win in their first playoff series with a 3-2 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night.

Yanni Gourde and Morgan Giki added goals for the Kraken, who scored first in all five games. Philipp Grubauer stopped 26 shots against his former team.

Nathan MacKinnon scored and Evan Rodriguez added another to make it 3-2 with 3:37 left, but the Avs couldn’t tie it.

The Krakens were without forward Jared McCann, who was injured on a hit by Avalanche defenseman Kyle Makar in Game 4. Makar was the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP last year.

Alexander Georgiev had 26 stops for Colorado.

According to NHL statistics, Cartier became the eighth player since 1927 to score in his NHL playoff debut. Before Cartier, the last to accomplish the feat was Makar in Game 3 of the 2019 first-round series.

Cartier, who turns 22 on Sunday, has 28 goals and 29 assists this season with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds.

McKinnon’s goal in the second period tied the game at 1. It was McKinnon’s 98th career playoff point, moving him away from joining Joe Sakic (188) and Peter Forsberg (159) as the only players in franchise history. record 100 postseason points.

Geekie opened the scoring with a touchdown early in the second period. For Jiki, who missed Game 3, being around his wife for the birth of his daughter was tough enough.