Alex Wennberg scores in OT, Alexis Lafreniere has highlight-reel goal as Rangers top Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. - It doesn’t seem to matter how a game is going for the New York Rangers.

As long as it's close at the end, they’ll find a way.

That’s exactly what happened Sunday, when they survived a late onslaught from the Florida Panthers to come away with a 5-4 overtime win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amerant Bank Arena.

Alex Wennberg tipped in a shot from Ryan Lindgren 5:35 into OT after Florida had the Rangers on their heels for a long stretch beforehand.

Now they’ll take a 2-1 series lead into Game 4, which will be played in Florida on Tuesday (8 p.m.

On their heels in the first

The first period of Game 3 resembled what we saw in Game 1, with the Panthers' forecheck once again all over the Rangers. That pressure led to lots of offensive-zone time, three New York penalties and several fumbled breakout attempts, including a costly one early.

An errant pass from Braden Schneider was intercepted by Florida forward Sam Bennett, which was immediately followed by Schneider accidentally flipping the puck over the boards on his next clear attempt for a delay-of-game penalty. The Panthers cashed in on the ensuing power play, with Sam Reinhart weaving in between K'Andre Miller and Adam Fox before finishing with a backhanded shot right in front of the Rangers' net.

That gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead 2:50 in, but Lafrenière's first sign of a big game came less than five minutes later.

Vincent Trocheck sprung the rush chance with a sneaky-good pass in between two Panthers, and Lafrenière did the rest by extending his stick past the reach of Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and beating him with a rising backhander to tie the score at 1-1.

Goodrow continued his recent heater by tipping in a Schneider shot 30 seconds later to put the Rangers on top, 2-1, but the Panthers finished the first period with another flurry.

Reinhart scored his second power-play goal of the period following a roughing penalty on Matt Rempe, taking advantage of a failed Miller clear by banking in a shot off Jacob Trouba's skate to tie the score at 2-2 with 5:14 remaining in the period.

It was yet another example of the Panthers controlling the area around the Rangers' net, helping them rack up 14 shots on goal and seven high-danger scoring chances in the opening 20 minutes alone, according to Natural Stat Trick.

A second-period flip

But as they have all playoffs, the Blueshirts found a way to respond.

They tightened up their defense by allowing only five shots and zero HDCF in the second period, then got a few more timely contributions from Lafrenière and Goodrow in the final five minutes.

Lafrenière was robbed moments before his second goal by Bobrovsky's right pad, but got another chance on the same shift and delivered. Yet another rush chance led to yet another backhanded finish, with an even higher degree of difficulty on this one. The 22-year-old forward slipped the puck past defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and got the shot off while falling that put the Rangers ahead 3-2 with 4:37 to play in the period.

Then what felt like a devastating blow for the Panthers.

Trouba followed a slashing penalty with a dangerous elbow that left Evan Rodrigues crumbled on the ice and could have easily been called for a major.

Instead the two minors handed Florida a four-minute power play and a golden chance to tie the score, but Goodrow had other plans.

After getting burned for multiple goals for the first time since Game 2 of their first-round series against the Capitals, the Rangers' penalty kill got back to its opportunistic ways. Trocheck hustled after a cleared puck and wrapped it around the back of Panthers' net, then found a trailing Goodrow for a one-timer that doubled the New York lead to 4-2 with 1:46 remaining in the period.

That gave Goodrow three goals in his last two games, including the overtime winner in Game 2 on Friday, and six goals through 13 playoff games. This comes after only scoring four in 80 regular-season games.

It also marked the fifth shorthanded goal for the Rangers in these playoffs, tying for the second most in franchise history. That, in part, helped compensate for slumping New York power play, which went 0-for-2 on Sunday and is now 0-for-8 in the series.

Panthers punch back

The roller-coaster ride continued in the third period, with the Panthers showing they have some late-game magic up their sleeve, as well.

They came out flying and scored twice within the first 6:58 to knot the score at 4-4. Aleksander Barkov recorded the first goal on a net-front jam, followed 1:54 later by the tying left-circle wrister from Gustav Forsling.

The rest of the period was spent with the Rangers largely pinned in their own zone, flinging pucks for one icing call after another due to their inability to connect enough passes for a successful clear. They were outshot, 12-4, and out-attempted, 25-6, with the Panthers holding an 8-1 edge in high-danger scoring chances.

The Blueshirts looked particularly gassed in the final minutes, but a handful of clutch saves from Igor Shesterkin allowed them to keep fighting in OT.

Kaapo Kakko slots back in for injured Jimmy Vesey

With Jimmy Vesey deemed "week-to-week" due to an upper-body injury suffered in Game 2, the Rangers had to make a few lineup tweaks.

"There are things that he brings to the table with regard to the way he plays – a checking line, the penalty kill," head coach Peter Laviolette said of losing Vesey. "And, so, everything factors into who comes back into the lineup. But the good thing is up until Jimmy, we were getting healthier and healthier by the day. And so there are decisions to be made when we're talking about a replacement."

Laviolette reinserted Kaapo Kakko after making him a healthy scratch for the first time in two years in the previous game, placing him back at right wing on the third line while asking Jack Roslovic to switch over to the left side.

That pushed rookie Will Cuylle down to the fourth line, where he added size and physicality to a unit that already included Goodrow and Rempe. This marked Rempe's first road appearance since Game 4 against Washington.

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Alex Wennberg scores OT winner as NY Rangers take Game 3 from Panthers