Sam Reinhart scores OT winner, Panthers tie series

SUNRISE — Sam Reinhart scored the overtime winner on Tuesday night as the Florida Panthers evened up the series at 2-2 against the New York Rangers.

Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin had 37 saves in the loss. Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky picked up 21 saves in the win.

After both teams split their respective home games 1-1, the series will shift back to New York, tied 2-2.

Vincent Trocheck opened the scoring 8:51 into the game , giving  the Rangers a 1-0 lead off their first power play goal of the series.

New York was 0/8 on the power play in the series prior to Trocheck scoring his eighth goal of the playoffs. 

Late in the period, the Rangers nearly doubled their lead on another power play, but a post was Panthers  goalie Sergei Bobrovsky’s best friend. 

Trailing 1-0 nearly mid-way into the second, Sam Bennett finally got on the board with his fourth goal of the postseason. Bennett’s goal came three seconds after the Rangers killed off their second penalty of the game. 

Less than four minutes after the Bennett goal, Florida took their first lead of the game when Carter Verhaeghe batted a puck out of mid-air, past Igor Shesterkin, to put his team up 2-1. 

Florida took their lead into the intermission.

Out of the break, New York didn’t waste any time to level the game. Alexis Lafreniere tied it up with his seventh goal of the postseason, just 3:28 into the third.

Lafrienere’s early goal in the third would be the only one of the period. For a third consecutive game, this series went to overtime.

The Rangers were victorious in the last two overtime games between the two sides — winning Game 2, 2-1 in New York and Game 3, 5-4 in Sunrise.

Florida got their lucky break just 59 seconds into overtime, when Blake Wheeler tripped Aleksander Barkov on a breakaway — putting the Panthers on the power play.

The Panthers had a golden opportunity to even up the series on the man-advantage and they wasted no time to do that.

Just 13 seconds into the power play, Sam Reinhart buried his eighth goal of the postseason from his patented spot in the bumper to win the game and tie the series at 2-2.

“If he’s open, obviously you want to look for him,” Barkov said of Reinhart’s game winner. “He’s scored a lot of goals from there.

Game 5 will be on Thursday, May 30 at 8 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden in New York.