Panarin's OT winner puts Hurricanes on brink

The New York Rangers took a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Carolina Hurricanes with a 3-2 overtime victory Thursday.

Artemi Panarin was the hero in the extra frame as the Rangers remain undefeated in the postseason.

New York is the 12th team in NHL history to start 7-0 in the playoffs, most recently accomplished by the 2008 Pittsburgh Penguins. The last time the Rangers did so was in 1994 when they won the Stanley Cup.

Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour called out his top players amid an 0-for-14 stretch on the power play in the series.

"Our special players have to be special at the right times and that's during the power play," he said, according to team reporter Walt Ruff. "That's what's missing here right now."

Otherwise, Brind'Amour had praise for his team: "We're focusing on how bad we're playing, but we're playing pretty damn good," he said, according to The Athletic's Arthur Staple.

Carolina's Andrei Svechnikov scored with under two minutes remaining in regulation to send the game to the extra frame. The Hurricanes fired 47 shots on Igor Shesterkin in the loss.

It's the second straight season Carolina has gone down 0-3 in a series after losing each contest by one goal. The Florida Panthers did the same to the Hurricanes in the 2023 Eastern Conference Final.

Game 4 is Saturday in Raleigh.