PANTHERS BEAT RANGERS 3-2 IN GAME 5 TO MOVE WITHIN WIN OF STANLEY CUP FINAL RETURN

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 NEW YORK (AP) — The Florida Panthers are on the verge of going back to the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year and third time in franchise history because they are finding ways to win the tight ones.

Anton Lundell broke a tie with 9:38 left and the Panthers beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Thursday night in Game 5 of of an Eastern Conference final where the teams have been separated by one goal the past four games. Unlike the previous three, this one didn't need extra time.

Gustav Forsling and Sam Bennett also scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves to help the Panthers — who lost to Vegas last year for the title — win their second straight in the best-of-series series.

Bennett said the Panthers aren't talking about a return trip to the Cup final. They are focused on one game at a time, although, the memory of last season is a positive.

“I think it helps a lot," Bennett said. “Just to know the grind. How hard it is. How much it takes to have success — to make it this far — it takes a lot. We learned a lot last year.”

Chris Kreider and Alexis Lafreniere scored for the Rangers, and Igor Shesterkin made 34 saves in another magnificent effort. The Presidents’ Trophy winners need to win two straight to return to the final for the first time since 2014. Mike Zibanejad had two assists.

The Panthers can end the series Saturday in Florida. If a seventh game is necessary, it will be at Madison Square Garden, where the Panthers have won twice this series.

This is the first time the Rangers have faced elimination in the playoffs this season.

“There is nothing to say,” Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said. “Your back is against the wall. We have to bring our best game to survive another day.”

The go-ahead goal came after the Rangers lost the puck in the Florida end. Eetu Luostarien got the puck, found Lundell at the Rangers' blue line. His shot from the right circle beat Shesterkin.

While it appeared the puck was deflected, many of the Panthers gave veteran Vladimir Tarasenko credit for attempting to tip the puck in front of Shesterkin. They thought it might have affected the goaltender.

“We had chance after chance and just kept grinding," said Lundell, who along with Luostarinen was stopped in close by Shesterkin on shots made between their legs earlier in the period. "We had some great chances. Finally we got the goal.”

Bennett added an empty-net goal with 1:52 left and it proved necessary when Lafreniere scored with 50 seconds to play. The Rangers never got another shot.

“As the emotion increases in this series - the closer you get to the end, every single play, small play counts," said Florida coach Paul Maurice, who team blocked 17 shots and had one giveaway.

Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said the series has been tight.

“We need to capitalize on some of the ones (chances) that we did generate and we weren’t able to do that tonight,” he said. "It was like I said, it was tight. The game was tight. I thought we had looks and I thought we had chances and they didn’t go in. Came down to one goal. So it’s a 2-1 game.”

Kreider and Zibanejad, who were scoreless in the first four games of the series, combined to give New York the lead with a short-handed goal at 2:04 of the second period.

Kreider broke up a Florida play at the blue line, nudged the puck to Zibanejad and then took a return pass entering the offensive zone and beat Bobrovsky with nifty backhand move, evoking a roar that seemed to have Madison Square Garden shaking.

It was Kreider eighth goal of the playoffs and the Rangers’ sixth short-handed, tying the team postseason record set in 1978-79. New York went on to the Stanley Cup Final, losing to Montreal in five games.

Forsling tied it a little more than six minutes later, taking a perfect pass from Bennett and beating Shesterkin with a backhander that the goalie deflected but not enough to keep it out of the net. It was the defenseman's fourth goal and 11th point of the playoffs.

Both teams had great chances in the scoreless first period with Bobrovsky stopping Filip Chytil and Vincent Trocheck in close, and Shesterkin turning aside Kevin Stenlund and getting a little help from a post on Bennett's backhander from point-blank range.

- TOM CANAVAN

PANTHERS PUT AWAY BRUINS IN GAME 6 ON GUSTAV FORSLING'S LATE GOAL

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 It took a grueling six-game effort and withstanding the Boston Bruins' attempted comeback from a 3-1 series deficit to get the job done, but the Florida Panthers found a way to advance into the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year.

Gustav Forsling's rebound goal with 1:33 left in regulation lifted the Panthers to a 2-1, series-clinching win in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Friday in Boston.

According to center Anton Lundell, the Panthers will be on a high entering best-of-seven conference finals against the Rangers, a set that will begin on Wednesday in New York.

"I think we're a very confident group. We're trying to keep it loose and enjoy the moment," Lundell said. "Everyone really stepped up at the right time. (Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky) was there when we needed him, made a couple huge saves that kept us in it."

Lundell had his initial shot stopped by Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman (26 saves), but from the left side, Forsling slipped the loose puck inside the near post for the deciding goal.

"I'm not usually the guy that scores the game-winning goal," Forsling said. "It's fun to score and help the team, but I'll stick to defense."

Lundell finished with a goal and an assist after scoring the tying tally at 12:44 of the second, helping the Panthers to their sixth straight playoff win at TD Garden.

Pavel Zacha scored Boston's lone goal.

Bobrovsky made 22 saves for Florida, including nine in the third period.

After a 5-1 win in Game 1 of the series, the Bruins scored no more than two goals in any game.

"I didn't sense frustration, but the lack of our ability to score in the playoffs in general (was a key factor)," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "You can't win every game 2-1."

The Panthers, however, have appeared comfortable in such situations.

"At our core, we're a pretty good defensive team and we have Sergei Bobrovsky," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "At (a 1-1 score), we're comfortable there."

Bruins captain Brad Marchand returned to the lineup following a two-game absence caused by an upper-body injury, providing what Montgomery called a "huge lift."

After the Bruins were unable to clear a shot blocked by Jake DeBrusk, Lundell picked up a loose puck in the slot and unleashed a dart to beat Swayman and tie the game in the middle frame.

"He's playing a different game now than I've ever seen him play," Maurice said of Lundell, who finished the series with two multi-point efforts in three games.

A roller-coaster first period saw the Bruins post the first four shots on goal before a span of 14:11 without one, but Zacha buried the opening goal -- the first of his 25-game playoff career -- with 52.8 seconds left to make it 1-0.

DeBrusk continued his strong playmaking run with a dish off the neutral-zone wall to spring Zacha for the breakaway, which he brought to his backhand and slipped under the crossbar.

Bobrovsky came up with several key saves in the second period that allowed his Panthers to tie the game, including denying Justin Brazeau's one-timer on the same shift as Lundell's goal.

Florida looked to take a 2-1 lead in the opening minute of the third. Brandon Montour took a slapper from the right point that Swayman initially thought beat him through the five-hole, but the Boston netminder had the puck behind his pads after it clanked off the post.

Bobrovsky made another important stop eight minutes into the final frame, keeping out Charlie McAvoy's driving attempt to the crease.

Neither team could cash in on a power-play attempt late in the third period, which included 22 overlapping seconds of four-on-four action.

- Reuters