Rangers vs. Panthers, Game 3 of Eastern Conference Final: Instant reaction

The New York Rangers defeated the Florida Panthers 5-4 in overtime of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday. The Rangers lead the best-of-7 series 2-1.

Here are some immediate takeaways from the game from NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen:

Star of the game

Alexis Lafreniere scored two goals in dazzling fashion. He scored on a breakaway, going to his backhand and beating Sergei Bobrovsky high glove to tie it 1-1 at 7:17 of the first period. He then scored at 15:23 of the second period to give New York a 3-2 lead, coming down on a solo rush through three Panthers players, toe-dragging the puck inside Dmitry Kulikov and sneaking a backhanded shot past Bobrovsky before he was tripped up by Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Goal of the game

It's Alex Wennberg's overtime goal. It has to be. And it's his first goal of the playoffs. Wennberg won the face-off in the left circle. The puck went back to Ryan Lindgren. He shot it from the left point and Wennberg got a piece of it to deflect it down and in at 5:35 of overtime.

Save of the game

Igor Shesterkin came up big with a blocker save on Matthew Tkachuk at 19:21 of the third period, keeping it 4-4 and allowing for the Rangers to take a breath and get the game to overtime after a dominant third period by the Panthers. Tkachuk was alone on Shesterkin on a bang-bang play.

What's next

Game 4 is at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).