UNDATED (AP) — Game 1 of the Rangers-Penguins first-round series at Madison Square Garden had enough drama for two games, which works out because it was nearly as long. In a game they never led until they won it, Pittsburgh emerged the 4-3 victor over New York in triple overtime.
Evgeni Malkin scored on a deflection 5:58 into the third extra period.
Pens’ goalie Casey DeSmith had 48 saves but left midway through the second overtime appearing to favor a leg. Louis Domingue came on and made 17 saves.
The Rangers nearly won it in regulation, when Filip Chytil scored with 3:10 left in the third period. However, the Penguins challenged and the goal was disallowed for goalie interference after a video review.
In other NHL playoff action:
— T.J. Oshie scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period and the Washington Capitals rallied past the top-seeded Florida Panthers 4-2 in the opener of their Eastern Conference first-round series. Tom Wilson, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller also scored for Washington, which trailed 2-1 going into the third period. Vitek Vanecek stopped 30 shots. Teams had been 0-39-1 against Florida in the regular season when trailing after 40 minutes, 0-22-0 when doing so on the Panthers’ home ice.
— The Colorado Avalanche erupted for 5 goals in the first period and rolled to a 7-2 victory over the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. Nathan MacKinnon got the scoring started and Devon Toews followed up 22 seconds later. The five goals chased Nashville’s backup goaltender David Rittich from the game with 4:56 remaining in the first. Andrew Cogliano, Cale Makar and Artturi Lehkonen also scored in the first. Game 2 is Thursday in Denver.
— Jacob Markstrom recorded his second career playoff shutout as the Calgary Flames beat the Dallas Stars 1-0 in the opening game of their first-round playoff series. Elias Lindholm scored the game’s lone goal a power-play early in the first period. Markstrom only faced 16 shots.
