Kaapo Kakko was back in the New York Rangers’ lineup for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Florida Panthers on Sunday, replacing injured winger Jimmy Vesey.

Matthew Tkachuk scored a power-play goal with 4.9 seconds left, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 36 shots to cap off a brilliant series, and the Florida Panthers earned their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 27 years by beating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 to win the Eastern Conference title in a sweep.

Matthew Tkachuk beat Frederik Andersen in the final seconds of the fourth overtime to lift the Florida Panthers past the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 early Friday to open their Eastern Conference final series.

Carter Verhaeghe scored the overtime winner to send the Panthers to the second round by beating the Washington Capitals 4-3 in Game 6.

Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist, and the Florida Panthers topped the Washington Capitals 5-1 on Thursday night to even their Eastern Conference first-round series at a game apiece.

The Florida Panthers have matched the best 11-game start in NHL history.

Aleksander Barkov and the Florida Panthers have agreed on an $80 million, eight-year contract extension with an annual cap hit of $10 million.

Ryan Lomberg scored on a breakaway 5:56 into overtime to cap a furious comeback and give the Florida Panthers a 6-5 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 of their first-round playoff matchup.

It was a close game, but it didn’t feel like that.”Bobrovsky allowed an early goal but was able to stop the Red Wings the rest of the way. It was a good win for us.”AdFilip Zadina scored for the Red Wings. The Red Wings have lost nine of 10. “We had some chances on the power play, but we need to score.”Zadina put the Red Wings ahead 1-0 at the 3:31 mark of the first. The Red Wings visit the Nashville Predators on Thursday.