Cale Makar scored 8:31 into overtime and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 2-1 on Thursday night in Denver to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference first-round playoff series.

The Avalanche held the Predators to 15 shots after the first period and dominated chances in the third period and overtime. Colorado finally solved Ingram in OT after Nico Sturm took a shot from near the left circle that Ingram saved. The rebound came to Makar in the slot, and his wrister gave the Avalanche a two-game edge in the series.

It was Makar’s second goal of the postseason. Nathan MacKinnon also scored and Darcy Kuemper stopped 25 shots for the Avalanche, who head to Nashville for Game 3 on Saturday.

Rookie goaltender Connor Ingram made a career-high 48 saves and Yakov Trenin scored for the Predators.

Stars 2, Flames 0

Joe Pavelski’s first-period goal held up as the game-winner thanks to a shutout performance by goaltender Jake Oettinger, and visiting Dallas beat Calgary to even the Western Conference first-round series at one win apiece.

Oettinger, in just his second NHL playoff start, made 29 saves — 12 of them in the third period. He has a shutout streak of 114 minutes and 59 seconds, and he has stopped 54 of 55 shots he has faced in the series. Michael Raffl’s empty-net goal with 69 seconds remaining sealed the win.

Jacob Markstrom stopped 21 shots for the Pacific Division-champion Flames, who are in dire need of offensive production with just one goal through the first two contests of the best-of-seven series. Markstrom has stopped 37 of 38 shots in the series.

Panthers 5, Capitals 1

Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe each recorded a goal and an assist as Florida defeated Washington in an Eastern Conference first-round playoff game in Sunrise, Fla.

The best-of-seven series is tied 1-1, with Game 3 set for Saturday afternoon in Washington.

Florida also got goals from Aaron Ekblad, Mason Marchment and Aaron Lundell. Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves.

Rangers 5, Penguins 2

Artemi Panarin scored a key goal with 11:58 remaining and collected two assists for host New York, which never trailed in a victory over Pittsburgh that evened its Eastern Conference first-round playoff series at one win apiece.

Game 3 is Saturday in Pittsburgh. New York’s Frank Vatrano also contributed a goal and two assists. Vatrano scored 1:47 after Panarin as the Rangers rebounded nicely from their triple-overtime loss in the Tuesday series opener. New York’s Igor Shesterkin followed up his 79-save performance in Game 1 by making 39 stops in Game 2.

Jake Guentzel collected his third goal of the series for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby scored late in the second after helping set up Guentzel.

–Field Level Media

Joe Pavelski’s first-period goal held up as the game-winner thanks to a shutout performance by goaltender Jake Oettinger, and the visiting Dallas Stars beat the Calgary Flames 2-0 on Thursday to even their Western Conference first-round series at one win apiece.

Oettinger, in just his second NHL playoff start, made 29 saves — 12 of them in the third period. He has a shutout streak of 114 minutes and 59 seconds, and he has stopped 54 of 55 shots he has faced in the series.

Michael Raffl’s empty-net goal with 69 seconds remaining sealed the win.

Jacob Markstrom stopped 21 shots for the Pacific Division-champion Flames, who are in dire need of offensive production with just one goal through the first two contests of the best-of-seven series. Although not as busy as his counterpart, Markstrom did a great job of keeping his team in the game.

He has stopped 37 of 38 shots faced in the series.

The Flames have lost 12 consecutive Game 2s in playoff action.

Game 3 will be Saturday in Dallas, and the Stars will have plenty of confidence with the next two games in their arena.

Pavelski opened the scoring at the 7:47 mark of the affair in a manner he’s renowned for. The veteran center was headed to the net when Jason Robertson sent a long shot that Pavelski deflected into the top corner for the first Dallas goal of the series.

From there, the Stars did a masterful job of limiting Calgary from generating a steady stream of Grade-A chances.

When the Flames had a golden opportunity to crack Oettinger’s shutout bid, the 23-year-old goalie, who was fourth on the depth chart going into the season, stood tall.

Among his key saves were a lunging stop on Andrew Mangiapane’s rebound offering in the second period and then a clutch save on Tyler Toffoli late in the game.

–Field Level Media

Cale Makar scored 8:31 into overtime and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 2-1 on Thursday night in Denver to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference first-round playoff series.

Nathan MacKinnon also scored and Darcy Kuemper stopped 25 shots for the Avalanche.

Rookie goaltender Connor Ingram made a career-high 48 saves and Yakov Trenin scored for the Predators.

Game 3 is Saturday afternoon in Nashville.

The Avalanche held the Predators to 15 shots after the first period and dominated chances in the third period and overtime. Colorado finally solved Ingram in OT after Nico Sturm took a shot from near the left circle that Ingram saved. The rebound came to Makar in the slot, and his wrister gave the Avalanche a two-game edge in the series.

It was Makar’s second goal of the postseason.

After scoring seven goals in their Game 1 victory, the Avalanche found it tough to break through against Ingram. They didn’t get a shot on goal for more than five minutes to start the game but made the first one count.

MacKinnon picked up the puck at his own blue line, skated into the Nashville zone and beat Ingram with a shot to the short side at 5:25 of the opening period. It was his third goal of the series.

The Predators drew even later in the period. Roman Josi’s pass went through Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard to Trenin, who came in on Kuemper and beat him with a wrister at 15:19.

It was Trenin’s first goal of the playoffs.

The Avalanche held a 21-5 shots-on-goal advantage in the second period but couldn’t get one by Ingram. The hosts nearly scored in the final seconds of the period, but Valeri Nichushkin’s backhander was disallowed when the referee determined Artturi Lehkonen had interfered with Ingram.

Colorado challenged the call, but it was upheld upon a review, and the Avalanche were assessed a minor penalty. Nichushkin then took a high-sticking penalty off the opening faceoff of the third period, giving Nashville a five-on-three for 1:50. The Predators managed just one shot on goal on the two-man advantage.

–Field Level Media

Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe each recorded a goal and an assist as the Florida Panthers defeated the visiting Washington Capitals 5-1 in an Eastern Conference first-round playoff game on Thursday in Sunrise, Fla.

The best-of-seven series is tied 1-1 with Game 3 set for Saturday afternoon in Washington.

Florida also got goals from Aaron Ekblad, Mason Marchment and Aaron Lundell.

Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves, and Florida killed off a crucial four-minute minor while holding a 3-1 lead in the second period.

The Panthers, who won the Presidents’ Cup as the NHL’s top team in the regular season, lost their playoff opener against the Capitals 4-2 on Tuesday. But Florida, the highest-scoring team in the league, returned to form on Thursday.

Washington got its lone goal from Nicklas Backstrom. Capitals star Alex Ovechkin was held to one assist, and Washington goalie Vitek Vanecek stopped just 14 of the 19 shots he faced before getting pulled after two periods.

Ilya Samsonov turned aside all 17 Florida shots in the third period.

Florida opened the scoring with 16:20 gone in the first period on Ekblad’s blast from the top of the right circle that deflected in off a Capitals defender.

The Panthers made it 2-0 with just 2:02 left in the first as Jonathan Huberdeau danced around two defenders before setting up Barkov for a tap-in goal.

In the second period, Lundell hooked T.J. Oshie, giving Washington a power-play opportunity. The Capitals took advantage as Backstrom scored from a bad angle on Bobrovsky, who did not hug his left post.

However, Marchment scored just 27 seconds later, beating Vanecek with a wrist shot from the right circle.

With 5:58 gone in the second, the Capitals got another opportunity as Marchment was called for that double minor — roughing and slashing on Nick Jensen. The Panthers killed off the penalties, though, giving them momentum.

Florida closed the second period with two more goals to take a 5-1 lead.

First, the Panthers forced a turnover before Lundell and Sam Reinhart worked a give-and -go play. Lundell finished with another tap-in goal at 15:24.

Then, Verhaeghe ripped a blistering shot from the high slot at 17:32.

The Capitals played without forward Tom Wilson, who sustained a lower-body injury in Game 1.

–Field Level Media

Artemi Panarin scored a key goal with 11:58 remaining and collected two assists for the host New York Rangers, who never trailed in a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday that evened their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series at one win apiece.

Game 3 is Saturday in Pittsburgh.

New York’s Frank Vatrano also contributed a goal and two assists. Vatrano scored 1:47 after Panarin as the Rangers rebounded nicely from their triple-overtime loss in the Tuesday series opener.

Panarin scored when his shot from behind the net banked off Pittsburgh defenseman Mike Matheson’s right skate and under third-string goalie Louis Domingue. Vatrano scored when he sped down the right wing, fended off Matheson and lifted a wrist shot by Domingue.

Andrew Copp, Ryan Strome and Chris Kreider scored to help the Rangers hold a 3-2 lead through 40 minutes.

Jake Guentzel collected his third goal of the series for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby scored late in the second after setting up Guentzel.

New York’s Igor Shesterkin followed up his 79-save performance in Game 1 by making 39 stops in Game 2. He pulled off stops on Evgeni Malkin and Crosby in the first four minutes of the third when the Penguins took the first nine shots of the period.

Shesterkin was also taken down by Pittsburgh’s Jeff Carter with 2:04 remaining. After Carter appeared to lean into him, Shesterkin fell on his back and was attended to by trainer Jim Ramsay, resulting in a double minor for Carter.

Domingue stopped 35 shots in his first career NHL playoff start after entering for Casey DeSmith in the second overtime on Tuesday.

The Rangers opened the scoring at 6:50 of the first when Copp’s one-timer from the high slot deflected off Crosby’s stick and Matheson’s skate into the net.

Guentzel tied it 2:02 later when his deflection caromed off New York defenseman K’Andre Miller and past Shesterkin moments after Crosby intercepted a pass by Panarin.

The Rangers regained the lead 2:59 into the second on a power play. Strome held off Kris Letang in front of the net and deflected Adam Fox’s long shot under Domingue.

New York took a two-goal lead at 12:06 of the middle period when Kreider went to the high slot and redirected a shot by Vatrano over Domingue’s stick.

Crosby made it a one-goal game with 86 seconds left in the second when he fended off three defenders and swept the rebound of Bryan Rust’s shot into the net from right in front of Shesterkin.

–Field Level Media