Never go up the middle.

San Jose Sharks defenseman David Schlemko did, and the Edmonton Oilers' secret offensive weapon Zack Kassian made him pay in Game 3.

Kassian used his backhand to go five-hole, because that's where you shoot on Martin Jones.

That made it 1-0 Oilers, and that's how the game ended. That gives Kassian two game-winning goals in the playoffs, in back-to-back games. He didn't have a single GWG in the regular season.

The Oilers are up 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. And, yes, that's back-to-back shutouts for Cam Talbot, who made 23 saves Sunday.

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Leave it to John Tortorella to perfectly sum up Zach Werenski's gutsy effort Sunday night.

"(He has) balls as big as the building, doesn't he?" the Columbus Blue Jackets head coach quipped postgame. "It doesn't surprise me with him."

Werenski didn't play in overtime - during which Jake Guentzel capped off a hat trick to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 5-4 win and a 3-0 series lead - but the Blue Jackets blue-liner did return early in the third period after taking a shot to the face that left him bleeding profusely late in the second.

He came back sporting a full visor and plenty of stitches, but Tortorella confirmed Werenski's vision was too impaired by the swelling before overtime began.

"It got to the point where he couldn't see," the head coach said.

Tortorella acknowledged that playing without Werenski, and with only five defensemen, in overtime wasn't ideal.

"Werenski's probably our best player, but it's part of (the game)," he said.

Werenski was injured moments before the Penguins tied the game at 3-3, and the usually opinionated coach declined to say whether he thought the goal should have been disallowed because the defenseman was bleeding.

"It's their call," Tortorella said of the referees. "I've seen it called both ways. I don't think we got puck possession, but I've still seen ... the refs blow (the whistle) right away (and) they decided not to."

Werenski's teammates echoed their coach's complimentary words when asked about the rookie.

Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno and forward Cam Atkinson both described Werenski as a "warrior," and Foligno made a point of insisting the play he was injured on didn't cost Columbus the game.

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Broadway hasn't been kind to the New York Rangers.

The Manhattan squad dropped its sixth straight playoff game at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, as the Rangers fell 3-1 to the Montreal Canadiens.

It's been nearly two years since the Rangers captured a postseason victory in front of their home crowd, with that win coming in Game 7 of a second-round series against the Washington Capitals on May 13, 2015:

Just 11 of the 18 Rangers who skated that night, plus goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, remain with the club less than two years later.

The Rangers are now down 2-1 in their series against the Canadiens. The two sides split the first two games in Montreal before the Rangers' loss at home on Sunday. Game 4 comes Tuesday in New York.

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NEW YORK - Alexander Radulov had a goal and an assist to lead Montreal to a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Sunday night, giving the Canadiens a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Artturi Lehkonen and Shea Weber scored power-play goals for Montreal and Carey Price stopped 20 shots.

Radulov, who got the overtime winner in Game 2 on Friday night after Tomas Plekanec tied it with 18 seconds left in regulation, has two goals and three assists in the past two games.

Brady Skjei spoiled Price's shutout bid with 2:56 remaining for his first career playoff goal.

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, coming off a playoff career-high 54 saves in Game 2, stopped 26 shots in this one.

Game 4 is Tuesday night.

With Montreal leading 1-0, the Rangers' Mats Zuccarello was whistled for a double-minor for high-sticking 4:07 into the third.

The Canadiens took advantage 3 1/2 minutes later with their second power-play goal of the game. Weber got a pass from Alex Galchenyuk in the left circle and fired it past a sprawled Lundqvist at 7:42.

Radulov made it 3-0 with some nice stickhandling, dumping the puck past Lundqvist with 4:25 left.

The second period was played with a deliberate pace, with the Canadiens outshooting the Rangers 12-6. Price stopped a slap shot by Michael Grabner about six minutes in, and then made a glove save on Derek Stepan with 5:45 left.

With the Rangers' J.T. Miller off on a delay of game penalty for a faceoff infraction, the Canadiens started pressing on their first power play of the game. Lundqvist made a succession of saves in close with 2 1/2 minutes to go, stopping Lehkonen twice and then Plekanec once.

Montreal broke through when, off a faceoff to Lundqvist's right, Lehkonen got a pass from Brendan Gallagher and fired the puck over Lundqvist's left shoulder with 2:23 left in the period for his first career postseason goal.

It was the first power-play goal of the series. Both teams were 0 for 7 through the first two games, and the Rangers finished 0 for 3 in this game.

The Rangers' best chance early came when Oscar Lindberg's shot beat Price, but rang off the right post about 6 1/2 minutes into the first period. Price also made a nice glove save on Grabner 2 1/2 minutes later.

The Canadiens had a flurry of chances after that.

First, Lundqvist had to make a flurry of saves after that. First, he stopped a tip-in attempt by Max Pacioretty at 9:21.

Less than a minute later Lundqvist stopped a wrist shot by Paul Byron, and after a giveaway by Chris Kreider, Byron's slap shot was denied by the Rangers' goalie. Dwight King then hit a shot off the crossbar with 8 1/2 minutes to go.

Price made a stop on an in-close attempt by Kevin Hayes with about 3 minutes remaining, and then a diving save on a backhand follow by Rick Nash seconds later.

NOTES: Rangers D Kevin Klein played after sitting out the first two games of the series. Klein missed 16 straight games due to an injury before playing in six of the last seven to close the regular season. ... D Andrei Markov appeared in his 86th playoff game, tying Yvon Lambert, Bert Olmstead and Peter Mahovlich for 40th place on the franchise list. Plekanec appeared in his 84th, tying Chris Nilan for 43rd. ... Canadiens D Brandon Davidson appeared in his first playoff game. ... Canadiens coach Claude Julien tied Alain Vigneault and Fred Shero for 14th place on NHL playoff coaching wins list at 63.

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Now we know why Zach Werenski didn't play in overtime.

The Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman returned early in the third period after being bloodied by a Phil Kessel shot right before the Pittsburgh Penguins scored late in the second, but he didn't emerge for the extra session.

Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella said Werenski couldn't play in overtime because he couldn't see, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Jason Mackey.

Werenski logged 19:08 despite the nasty cut.

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Joe Thornton returned to San Jose's lineup for Game 3 against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, skating in his first game of the postseason.

Thornton suffered a lower-body injury April 2 versus the Vancouver Canucks. The ailment kept him out of the lineup for the final three games of the regular season, along with the first two games of the opening round against the Oilers.

The series sits deadlocked after the first two games. San Jose took the opener with a 3-2 overtime victory, before the Oilers grabbed a 2-0 decision in the second game.

Thornton appeared in 79 games for the Sharks this season, tallying seven goals and 43 assists.

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Keeping one's head in the game is paramount in the playoffs.

Marc-Andre Fleury used his mask to rob Brandon Dubinsky of a potential overtime winner in Game 3 of the first-round playoff series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night.

The importance of Fleury's improbable heads-up play was made even more evident when Penguins forward Jake Guentzel potted the winner about five minutes later.

Pittsburgh took a 3-0 series lead, with Game 4 scheduled for Tuesday night.

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Alexander Radulov found his inner Peter Forsberg.

The Montreal Canadiens winger mimed the former NHL superstar on Sunday, burying a one-handed tally by New York Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist.

Radulov leads the Canadiens in playoff scoring with five points in three games.

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Overtime winner. Hat trick. Commanding series lead.

Jake Guentzel checked off all of those boxes in a single stroke, taking a feed from Sidney Crosby and burying the winner in the extra frame to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 5-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 3 on Sunday night.

The Penguins took a 3-0 advantage in the first-round matchup with the victory.

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