Panthers avoid elimination as Tkachuk posts overtime winner to extend series vs. Bruins

Matthew Tkachuk scored six minutes into overtime to help the Panthers beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Wednesday night and force their first-round playoff series back to Florida for a sixth game.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 44 saves for Florida, which has won back-to-back games in Boston but lost twice at home. Anthony Duclair, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart also scored — each one giving the Panthers a lead.

Patrice Bergeron scored in his return from an injury, and Ullmark stopped 21 shots for the Bruins. Brad Marchand and Taylor Hall had the other goals for Boston, which rallied from 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 deficits to force overtime.

It was 2-1 Florida when Bergeron tied it five seconds into a Boston power play, tipping Marchand’s shot into the net. Seconds later, Tkachuk drew a hooking penalty on Jakub Lauko, and Reinhart quickly put the Panthers back in front.

With about 10 minutes left in regulation, though, Hall fought for a puck in the slot, turned and wristed it into the net to tie the game 3-3. The Panthers earned a faceoff in the Boston zone with 8 seconds left, but Marchand poked the puck free and chased it down, breaking free down the ice.

Bobrovsky turned him aside with 1 second left on the clock.

Kraken take command in series vs. Avalanche

Tye Kartye scored in his NHL debut and the Seattle Kraken moved a win away from clinching their first playoff series after beating the reigning Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Wednesday night.

Yanni Gourde and Morgan Geekie added goals for the Kraken, who’ve scored first in all five games. Philipp Grubauer stopped 26 shots against his former team.

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and Evan Rodrigues added another to make it 3-2 with 3:37 remaining, but the Avs couldn’t tie it up.

The Kraken were without forward Jared McCann, who was injured on a hit from Avalanche defenceman Cale Makar in Game 4. Makar could only watch as he drew a one-game suspension from the league. Makar was last year’s Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoff MVP.

Alexandar Georgiev had 26 stops for Colorado.

Kartye became the eighth player since 1927 to notch a goal while making his NHL debut in the playoffs, according to NHL Stats. Before Kartye, the last to accomplish the feat was Makar in Game 3 of a first-round series in 2019.

Kartye, who turns 22 on Sunday, had 28 goals and 29 assists this season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the AHL.

MacKinnon’s goal in the second period tied the game at 1. It was career playoff point No. 98 for MacKinnon, which moved him just two away from joining Joe Sakic (188) and Peter Forsberg (159) as the only players in franchise history to register 100 postseason points.

Geekie opened the scoring by knocking in a loose puck early in the second period. It’s been quite a stretch for Geekie, who missed Game 3 to be with his wife for the birth of their daughter.