Rangers Oust Panthers In Ot
NHL playoffs
Esa Tikkanen, who had the game-winning goal in overtime in Game 3, scored at 12:08 of overtime Friday night as the New York Rangers beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 to eliminate the defending Eastern Conference champions, four games to one in the best-of-seven series.
The Panthers’ season ended in overtime for the second straight year. They lost to Colorado in Game 4 of the 1996 Stanley Cup finals.
Mark Messier scored his first two goals of the playoffs and assisted on the overtime goal. He centered the puck to Tikkanen, who skated to the point, eluded defenseman Terry Carkner and fired the winner.
Messier, who led the Rangers with 36 goals during the regular season, has 108 career playoff goals, second behind teammate Wayne Gretzky’s 116.
N.Y. Rangers 1 1 0 1 - 3
Florida 1 0 1 0 - 2
First period-1, New York, Messier 1 (Tikkanen, Leetch), :39; 2, Florida, Hough 1 (Fitzgerald, Murphy), 14:17.
Second period-3, New York, Messier 2 (Samuelsson), 19:45.
Third period-4, Florida, Sheppard 2 (Niedermayer, Murphy), 12:37 (pp).
Overtime-5, New York, Tikkanen 3 (Messier, Leetch), 12:08.
Shots on goal-N.Y. Rangers 7-10-10-6-33. Florida 9-13-16-2-40.Powerplay opp.-N.Y. Rangers 1 of 3; Florida 1 of 6.Goalies-N.Y. Rangers, Richter 4-1 (40 shots-38 saves). Florida, Vanbiesbrouck 1-4 (33-30).A-14,703 (14,703).
Senators 4, Sabres 1
Buffalo, N.Y.
Daniel Alfredsson scored two goals as Ottawa moved within a game of its first playoff series victory.
The Senators, who entered the league as an expansion team in 1992-93, lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series 3-2.
For the second straight game the Sabres were without star goalie Dominik Hasek, who has a sprained right knee.
Ottawa 1 1 2 - 4
Buffalo 0 0 1 - 1
First period-1, Ottawa, McEachern 1 (Redden), 16:14.
Second period-2, Ottawa, Alfredsson 4 (Lambert, Redden), 1:00.
Third period-3, Ottawa, Alfreddson 5 (Duchesne, Yashin), :28 (pp). 4, Buffalo, Audette 1 (Shannon, Galley), 1:19. 5, Ottawa, Cunneyworth 1 (Van Allen, Gardiner), 13:56.
Shots on goal-Ottawa 10-6-14-30. Buffalo 8-6-11-25.Power-play opp.- Ottawa 1 of 7; Buffalo 0 of 3.Goalies-Ottawa, Tugnutt 3-2 (25 shots-24 saves). Buffalo, Shields 1-2 (26-22), Trefilov (14:49 third, 4-4).A-18,595 (18,595).
Oilers 1, Stars 0 (2 OT)
Dallas
Ryan Smyth’s 25-foot slap shot from the left circle found its way through Andy Moog’s pads and into the net 22 seconds into the second overtime as Edmonton took a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference series.
Oilers goaltender Curtis Joseph stopped 43 shots for his second shutout of the series. Moog had 28 saves. Both were brilliant in the first overtime.
Jason Arnott got the puck to Smyth after the faceoff and Smyth skated untouched over the blueline and took the shot from a tough angle. The puck got past Moog for the winner.
Edmonton 0 0 0 0 1 - 1
Dallas 0 0 0 0 0 - 0
First period-None.
Second period-None.
Third period-None.
First Overtime-None.
Second Overtime-1, Edmonton, Smyth 3 (Arnott, Mironov), :22.
Shots on goal-Edmonton 4-7-3-13-1-29. Dallas 13-16-6-7-1-43.Power-play opp.-Edmonton 0 of 1; Dallas 0 of 5.Goalies-Edmonton, Joseph 3-2 (43 shots-43 saves). Dallas, Moog 2-3 (29-28).A-16,924 (16,924).
Red Wings 5, Blues 2
Detroit
Steve Yzerman scored on a fluke goal early in the game, a blast from center ice, and Detroit never trailed in taking a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference series.
The five goals matched Detroit’s entire output against Blues goalie Grant Fuhr in the first four games. The Red Wings, whose 42-year drought without a Stanley Cup championship is the NHL’s longest, threw all their offensive might at Fuhr early in the game.
St. Louis 1 1 0 - 2
Detroit 1 3 1 - 5
First period-1, Detroit, Yzerman 2 (Shanahan), 3:22. 2, St. Louis, MacInnis 1 (Hull, J.Murphy), 11:02 (pp).
Second period-3, Detroit, Kozlov 1 (Larionov, Fedorov), 5:02 (pp). 4, Detroit, McCarty 1 (Draper, L.Murphy), 7:58. 5, St. Louis, Campbell 1 (Courtnall, MacInnis), 12:14 (pp). 6, Detroit, Shanahan 2 (Lapointe, Lidstrom), 13:15.
Third period-7, Detroit, Murphy 2 (Yzerman, Shanahan), 6:32 (pp).
Shots on goal-St. Louis 3-8-10-21. Detroit 11-15-7-33.Power-play opp.- St. Louis 2 of 5; Detroit 2 of 6.Goalies-St. Louis, Fuhr 2-3 (33 shots-28 saves). Detroit, Vernon 3-2 (21-19).A-19,983 (19,983).