Carter Verhaeghe scored twice — including the go-ahead tally in the third period — and added three primary assists as the Florida Panthers rallied from a three-goal deficit to defeat the Washington Capitals, 5-3, on Wednesday night in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series at Sunrise, Fla.

The top-seeded Panthers lead the best-of-seven series 3-2. The eighth-seeded Capitals will host Game 6 on Friday night, hoping to stave off elimination.

Verhaeghe has set a team record with five goals in a playoff series. On his go-ahead goal with 16:56 left in the third, Verhaeghe’s backcheck stripped the puck from Capitals star Alex Ovechkin. Verhaeghe then passed ahead to Aleksander Barkov before finishing the 2-on-1 rush.

T.J. Oshie scored twice, and Ilya Samsonov made 33 saves to lead Washington. Justin Schultz added one goal, and Evgeny Kuznetsov added two assists.

Rangers 5, Penguins 3

Filip Chytil scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period on the power play and New York rallied from a 2-0 second-period deficit to stave off playoff elimination with a victory over visiting Pittsburgh.

It was the first career playoff goal for Chytil, who was the 21st overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft by the Rangers.

Jacob Trouba and Alexis Lafreniere each had a goal and an assist and Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren also scored goals for the Rangers, who still trail the best-of-seven first round Eastern Conference series, 3-2. Game 6 is Friday night in Pittsburgh. Vezina finalist Igor Shesterkin stopped 29 of 32 shots.

Flames 3, Stars 1

Andrew Mangiapane scored the winning goal and host Calgary netted three unanswered third-period tallies to claim a victory over Dallas in Game 5 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series.

Mikael Backlund and Trevor Lewis also scored for the Flames, who hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Both Mangiapane and Backlund also collected an assist. Calgary’s Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves to claim another goaltending battle.

Jason Robertson scored for the Stars, while goaltender Jake Oettinger made 29 saves in a strong outing.

–Field Level Media

The Pittsburgh Penguins missed an opportunity to close out the host New York Rangers in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Wednesday, and their chances of advancing might be diminished due to an injury to their star center.

Sidney Crosby took an elbow to the head from Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba late in the second period, and Crosby never returned to the ice after that shift ended. No penalty was called.

Following the game, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said merely that Crosby was being assessed for an upper-body injury. The coach was asked to comment on the play that injured Crosby, and Sullivan replied, “Did you see the hit? You probably have the same opinion I do.”

Trouba scored a goal a few minutes after his hit on Crosby, helping the Rangers win 5-3 to slice their deficit in the Eastern Conference opening-round matchup to 3-2. Game 6 is scheduled for Friday in Pittsburgh.

Crosby, 34, had two goals and seven assists in the first four games of the series, but he didn’t add a point before exiting Game 5.

In the regular season, he had 31 goals and 53 assists in 69 games. The three-time Stanley Cup champion has played all 17 of his NHL seasons in Pittsburgh.

–Field Level Media

Andrew Mangiapane scored the winning goal and the host Calgary Flames netted three unanswered third-period tallies to claim a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars in Game 5 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series on Wednesday.

Mikael Backlund and Trevor Lewis also scored for the Flames, who hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Both Mangiapane and Backlund also collected an assist. Calgary’s Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves to claim another goaltending battle.

Jason Robertson scored for the Stars, while goaltender Jake Oettinger made 29 saves in a strong outing.

The Flames, who will look to close out the series Friday in Dallas, came out on top despite trailing 1-0 after two periods.

After drawing even on Backlund’s tally, Mangiapane put the Flames ahead at 10:38. Upon taking a pass from Backlund, Mangiapane worked to the slot and unloaded a wrist shot off the crossbar and into the net.

From there, the Flames hung strong thanks to a couple of clutch Markstrom saves. The hosts even killed a late Dallas power play before Lewis notched an empty-net goal with 57.1 seconds remaining.

Calgary outshot the visitors 16-5 in the third period.

After a scoreless first period, Robertson finally cracked the goose eggs with 6:39 remaining in the second period. Taking advantage of a loose puck inside the Calgary blue line, Robertson sent a shot that Markstrom stopped, only to have it bounce off Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin and into the net.

It was Robertson’s first goal of the playoffs after a sparkling 41-goal regular season.

Backlund finally put the Flames on the board at 6:49 of the third period. Thanks to a rush led by Blake Coleman, Mangiapane sent a shot-pass from the right faceoff dot that Backlund redirected for his first goal of the series. The Flames had gone more than 120 minutes of game time since they last scored at home in the series.

–Field Level Media

Carter Verhaeghe scored twice – including the go-ahead tally in the third period — and added three primary assists as the Florida Panthers rallied from a three-goal deficit to defeat the Washington Capitals, 5-3, on Wednesday night in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series at Sunrise, Fla.

The top-seeded Panthers lead the best-of-seven series 3-2. The eighth-seeded Capitals will host Game 6 on Friday night, hoping to stave off elimination.

Verhaeghe has set a team record with five goals in a playoff series. On his go-ahead goal with 16:56 left in the third, Verhaeghe’s backcheck stripped the puck from Capitals star Alex Ovechkin. Verhaeghe then passed ahead to Aleksander Barkov before finishing the 2-on-1 rush.

With 4:05 left, Verhaeghe’s pass led to Claude Giroux’s insurance goal on a 3-on-1 rush.

T.J. Oshie scored twice, and Ilya Samsonov made 33 saves to lead Washington. Justin Schultz added one goal, and Evgeny Kuznetsov added two assists.

The Panthers also got goals from Patric Hornqvist and Sam Reinhart and two assists from Barkov.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves, holding the Capitals scoreless for the final 36:22.

The Panthers went 0-for-3 on their power play. For the series, they are 0-for-16 with the man advantage.

Washington opened the scoring on its power play with 7:09 expired in the first. After Verhaeghe was called for tripping Ovechkin, the Capitals went to work. Oshie got the goal, deflecting in a shot by John Carlson.

The Capitals made it 2-0 with just 2:13 gone in the second. Lars Eller’s hard blast was stopped by Bobrovsky, but he and defenseman Aaron Ekblad failed to secure the rebound. Schultz got to the puck instead, and he fired into a relatively empty net.

Just over a minute later, the Capitals extended their lead to 3-0. Connor McMichael pushed the puck ahead to give Washington a 2-on-1 rush. Kuznetsov’s pass led to Oshie’s second goal of the night.

But the Panthers dominated the rest of the second period, tying the score 3-3.

The comeback started when Barkov shot the puck wide, off the back boards, and Verhaeghe banged in the carom at 6:50.

Less than six minutes later, Verhaeghe made another big play. After Carlson whiffed on the puck, Verhaeghe’s pass ahead sent Hornqvist on a breakaway. Hornqvist beat Samsonov glove-side.

Then, with 5:19 left in the second, it was Samsonov’s turn to fail to secure a loose puck. Reinhart capitalized, tying the score, 3-3.

After Verhaeghe put the Panthers on top 4-3, Ovechkin’s attempt to tie the score hit the right post with 8:40 left.

However, Giroux’s score settled things.

–Field Level Media