Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice expects a sense of urgency to permeate Thursday's Game 5 as his team and the New York Rangers vie to take a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final.

"The desperation of finality, you can start to feel it," the bench boss said, per SNY's Julie Stewart-Binks. "Forty-eight hours from now, a very good team is going to be facing elimination. You can feel that. The desperation will be high for both teams."

The Panthers won Game 1 in a 3-0 shutout, but the Rangers turned the tide with two straight overtime victories despite getting outplayed by Florida in Game 3.

The Cardiac Cats responded with an overtime victory of their own Tuesday night to knot the series at two games apiece.

The loss was a particularly difficult one for New York. Mika Zibanejad committed a costly turnover early in the extra frame, and Blake Wheeler proceeded to take a penalty to stop Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov on the partial break. Sam Reinhart scored on the ensuing power play to win the contest.

Maurice said the team who loses Game 4 typically has an "emotional advantage" in the playoffs. Despite the nature of the Rangers' latest defeat, Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad said he doesn't view them as a ticked-off group.

"They're world-class players," he said. "I don't see frustration in them. I see guys chomping at the bit to make things happen."

Some of the Rangers' star players have been stymied by the Panthers through the first four games. Zibanejad and Chris Kreider have yet to register a point after being among the team's leaders through the opening two rounds, and they're sporting matching minus-3s.

Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette opted not to call out specific players on Thursday, only noting that the whole team needs to "play better."

"I definitely think there's room for improvement," he said. "We're playing too much defense and not enough offense."

No matter what the Rangers end up throwing at them in Game 5, Panthers rearguard Gustav Forsling said his squad can handle it.

"We're a very confident group," he said, according to NHL.com's Jameson Olive. "We believe in each other. We know we're going to get the opportunities to score, so we just have to defend first."

Puck drops on Game 5 at 8 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden.

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Darnell Nurse hasn't been a fan favorite as of late due to his playoff struggles, but the Edmonton Oilers defenseman has captain Connor McDavid in his corner.

"He gives us everything he's got and he always has for a long time," McDavid told the media Wednesday, including Sportsnet. "He's a big part of our room and I would expect him to have a great one tonight."

Nurse is a league-worst minus-12 in the playoffs heading into Wednesday's Game 4 of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars. He's also been on the ice for a league-leading 18 goals against at five-on-five in 15 games this spring.

The 29-year-old has spent the bulk of his postseason time on a pairing with Cody Ceci or Vincent Desharnais, and the Oilers have struggled to keep the puck out of their own net with either combination on the ice.

All figures at five-on-five courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.

The Stars have scored eight goals against Edmonton at five-on-five so far, and Nurse has been on the ice for half of them.

Nurse wasn't asked about his own performance before Game 4, but he offered brief responses to the media's questions before cutting his availability short after one minute.

Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch doesn't think that Nurse's poor numbers are painting the full picture.

"You look at the stats, I think it's unfair to say, 'That's his game,'" he said Tuesday. "But Darnell can play better."

"Plus-minus is obviously a very difficult stat to look at," he reasoned. "Sometimes you're soaking up minuses when you had nothing to do with the play. ... Maybe a bad goal. It's a tough one."

Nurse has mustered two assists in these playoffs while averaging just under 20 minutes per contest.

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Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice doesn't want his players to forget how they're feeling after Sunday's hard-fought 5-4 overtime loss in Game 3 against the New York Rangers.

"Sometimes, you want to keep the growl," he said postgame, according to Florida Hockey Now. "A lot of times in the playoffs, it's about making sure that you keep that energy and you cut off your losses and you let it go. Then there's times you want to keep it and eat it and let it burn for a while and find a different kind of energy source.

"So you put up whatever we put up tonight and you don't come away with the win, you should be a little growly."

The Panthers dominated the Rangers everywhere but the scoresheet as their Eastern Conference rivals took a 2-1 series lead. Florida held a lopsided 108-44 edge in shot attempts and 37-23 advantage in shots at all strengths while controlling 69.6% of the scoring chances and 71% of the expected goals at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick.

"Any time you lose a close one like that, it's obviously frustrating," lamented Panthers forward Sam Reinhart. "You can say we dominate, but then you look at the mistakes that lead to their goals. There's areas of improvement, for sure."

Florida entered the second intermission down 4-2 after allowing a demoralizing shorthanded goal to Barclay Goodrow on a four-minute power play.

The Cardiac Cats forced overtime thanks to captain Aleksander Barkov and rearguard Gustav Forsling, but Rangers forward Alex Wennberg scored the dagger on a deflection for New York's second straight overtime victory and fourth of these playoffs. The win marked the Rangers' 34th comeback of 2023-24, setting an NHL record for most in a single season, per NHL PR.

"We have a no-panic mentality that (is) relied on in those moments when we're under siege," Goodrow said, according to USA Today's Vince Z. Mercogliano. "It might get ugly sometimes. ... In the end, a win's a win."

Igor Shesterkin made 33 saves - 16 of which came in the third period and overtime - to stave off the Panthers' attack.

"He was our best player tonight, I thought," forward Vincent Trocheck told NHL Network postgame. "When you have a guy like that back there, you have a lot of confidence.

Trocheck added: "He made countless big saves to keep us in the game. ... I think he stole this one a little bit late."

The Panthers will look to avoid going down 3-1 during Game 4 on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.

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Czechia's David Pastrnak broke a scoreless tie in the third period to lift the tournament hosts to a 2-0 gold-medal-clinching victory over Switzerland at the 2024 IIHF World Championship on Sunday.

David Kampf sealed the victory with an empty-net goal. Lukas Dostal was outstanding in net, turning aside 31 shots to secure the shutout.

The contest's final frame was delayed for over six minutes after Czechia forward Ondrej Palat cracked the glass with a big hit on Switzerland's Andrea Glauser.

Pastrnak scored shortly after play resumed for his first point in his fourth game at the event. He joined Czechia late at the tournament after his Boston Bruins were eliminated from the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

This is Czechia's first gold at the world championships since 2010. The nation last won the event on home soil in 1985. Switzerland has never finished atop the podium and last medaled in 2018 when it captured silver.

Switzerland's Kevin Fiala was named tournament MVP and top forward after recording seven goals and 13 points in eight contests, placing second in tournament scoring at the Worlds. Dostal was named top goaltender, while Roman Josi was tabbed top defenseman.

Fiala, Roman Cervenka, Dylan Cozens, Josi, Erik Karlsson, and Dostal were named to the media's All-Star team.

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Czechia's David Pastrnak broke a scoreless tie in the third period to lift the tournament hosts to a 2-0 gold-medal-clinching victory over Switzerland at the 2024 IIHF World Championship on Sunday.

David Kampf sealed the victory with an empty-net goal. Lukas Dostal was outstanding in net, turning aside 31 shots to secure the shutout.

The contest's final frame was delayed for over six minutes after Czechia forward Ondrej Palat cracked the glass with a big hit on Switzerland's Andrea Glauser.

Pastrnak scored shortly after play resumed for his first point in his fourth game at the event. He joined Czechia late at the tournament after his Boston Bruins were eliminated from the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

This is Czechia's first gold at the world championships since 2010. The nation last won the event on home soil in 1985. Switzerland has never finished atop the podium and last medaled in 2018 when it captured silver.

Switzerland's Kevin Fiala was named tournament MVP and top forward after recording seven goals and 13 points in eight contests, placing second in tournament scoring at the Worlds. Dostal was named top goaltender, while Roman Josi was tabbed top defenseman.

Fiala, Roman Cervenka, Dylan Cozens, Josi, Erik Karlsson, and Dostal were named to the media's All-Star team.

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Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid scored the double-overtime winner in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final on Thursday off a perfect centering pass from Evan Bouchard.

However, being the hero didn't stop McDavid from wishing that he scored a little earlier. He was robbed of a sure goal by Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger and blue-liner Chris Tanev in the final minutes of the first extra frame.

"Apologies to everyone for keeping everyone up a little bit longer," McDavid told NHL on TNT after his Oilers' 3-2 Game 1 victory. "Should have gone in, should have gone in, has to go in. He's a good goalie, and he scrambles to make that play, but I mean, that has to go in."

He added: "Glad that we were able to get the win. Otherwise, I would have had a tough time sleeping."

The Oilers held a 2-0 lead before the midway mark of the second period, but a pair of goals from Stars veteran Tyler Seguin extended the action.

McDavid didn't get off to the best start in overtime, taking a double-minor for high-sticking Matt Duchene off the opening draw. McDavid got into it with the officials before making his way to the box.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do there," he explained postgame. "I am going forward trying to play the puck, it feels like he's holding my stick. I didn't even really feel the high stick at all, I think maybe his face even comes down on my stick."

While the Oilers killed off his four-minute infraction, McDavid didn't enjoy his time watching from the sidelines.

"Long. Really long. Really, really long. Miserable," he said. "I hated every second of it, but the guys did an amazing job. Truthfully, the penalty kill has just been amazing."

McDavid became the seventh player in franchise history with multiple playoff overtime goals.

"Guys were giving him a little heat for not ending it earlier, so he was happy, obviously," Zach Hyman told NHL Network's Jackie Redmond. "Just a huge goal, and who better to do it than him?"

"Obviously, Connor felt like he had to get it back, so he got it back," he added.

Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.

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The Carolina Hurricanes have granted president and general manager Don Waddell permission to speak to other teams as his current deal will soon, reports TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

LeBrun added that Waddell interviewed with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. Columbus has been trying to find a new GM since firing longtime executive Jarmo Kekalainen in February.

Waddell joined the Hurricanes as team president in 2014 and was named general manager in 2018.

Carolina has made the playoffs in each of Waddell's six seasons as GM and advanced to the conference finals twice, though both of those ventures ended in four-game sweeps.

The Hurricanes have also been one of the league's top regular-season teams during Waddell's tenure, winning three consecutive divisional titles from 2021-23.

The Hurricanes failed to clinch a playoff spot for nine straight years before Waddell's time at the helm.

Carolina's 2023-24 campaign ended at the hands of the New York Rangers in the second round last Thursday. Waddell attempted to get his team over the hump by acquiring pending unrestricted free-agent star Jake Guentzel before the trade deadline, a big in-season swing typically uncharacteristic of the GM.

Waddell and the Hurricanes inked head coach Rod Brind'Amour to a reported five-year extension on Sunday.

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It's been quite the eventful month for Arturs Silovs, and the Vancouver Canucks' rookie goaltender had the time to process his breakthrough playoff performance during Thursday's end-of-season media availability.

"It was a great opportunity for me, just going from a (third-string) goalie (to) getting all the games after Game 3," the netminder said. "It was phenomenal getting all the experience."

He added: "I tried to do my best every single time I was in the crease to help the team win. It's an exciting time to play, everyone wants to win, everyone's desperate to win, so you have to give everything."

The Canucks were forced to turn to the youngster in the fourth contest of their first-round series against the Nashville Predators because of injuries to starter Thatcher Demko and usual backup Casey DeSmith. Before that appearance, Silovs had nine games of NHL experience.

He made 27 saves on 30 shots in his playoff debut to help Vancouver take a 3-1 series stranglehold, and the crease belonged to him for the remainder of his team's time in the postseason.

Silovs (and his iconic dress shirt) established himself as a fan favorite on the run. He posted an .898 save percentage and 2.91 goals against average across 10 games, recording five wins - including a series-clinching shutout against the Predators - before the Canucks were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the second round Monday.

The 23-year-old performed admirably during Vancouver's season-ending loss, turning aside 26 out of 29 shots.

Despite the Canucks' early exit, Silovs acknowledged that "it feels great" to prove he can step up in big moments.

"I was proving to myself that I can play here, I can make key saves to help the team to win," he said.

DeSmith is a pending unrestricted free agent, so the door is open for Silovs to take over as Demko's regular backup.

Silovs said he's looking forward to working with the Vezina Trophy finalist next season.

"I think it'll work good," Silovs said. "(Demko's) an experienced goalie. For me, I can learn a lot from him and try my best to show I can be the second guy to help the team."

First, though, Silovs needs a new contract as a pending restricted free agent. He's projected to sign a one-year pact worth $775,000, per Evolving-Hockey.

The Canucks selected the Latvian in the sixth round of the 2019 NHL Draft.

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The New York Rangers rallied around Alexis Lafreniere after his unfortunate own goal helped lift the Florida Panthers to an Eastern Conference Final-opening win Wednesday.

"Everyone's probably been in that situation - I mean, every defenseman has," Jacob Trouba said postgame. "Just a tough bounce, obviously, not what he was trying to do. It's nothing to even worry about. It should be out of his head already by now. Just one of those unfortunate breaks."

The Panthers held a 1-0 lead for much of the contest thanks to Matthew Tkachuk's first-period tally, but Lafreniere accidentally tipped the backbreaker past Igor Shesterkin with just under four minutes remaining in the game.

Shesterkin came out aggressively to play the puck off the boards, but it was corralled by Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe who tried to find Tkachuk with a cross-ice pass, which Lafreniere then deflected in front.

Verhaeghe was credited with the goal, and Sam Bennett cashed in on the empty net over two minutes later to seal the Cats' 3-0 victory. Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside all 23 shots he faced.

Like Trouba, Rangers forward Chris Kreider doesn't want Lafreniere to sweat the unfortunate moment.

"He was in the right spot. He worked so hard to get back to that spot, stop in the crease, that's what we want," Kreider said. "He's the low guy, it's a bad bounce, but that's hockey. We know the kind of player he is, we said a couple of things to him, but he'll respond, he'll pick himself up, and we'll pick him up, too."

Jimmy Vesey, meanwhile, lauded Lafreniere's play so far this spring.

"I don't think anyone's looking at him for that play. ... He's been a huge part of the team all year, Vesey said. "He's played great in the playoffs. As a team, we're looking to respond next game."

Lafreniere has racked up a respectable four goals and 10 points in 11 games this postseason, building on a regular season where he registered a career-high 28 tallies and 57 points in 82 contests.

Puck drops on Game 2 on Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

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The San Jose Sharks appear to be looking into a familiar face to fill the hole behind their bench.

San Jose has received permission from the Los Angeles Kings to speak to Marco Sturm as part of its coaching search, reports TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

The Sharks drafted Sturm 21st overall in 1996. He amassed 128 goals and 273 points in 553 games for the organization while establishing himself as a fan favorite.

His eight-season tenure with the club ended when he was packaged to the Boston Bruins as part of the trade that sent Joe Thornton to San Jose.

Though he's never served as a head coach at the NHL level, Sturm has been bench boss of the Ontario Reign, the Kings' AHL affiliate, since 2022. The Reign were eliminated from the Calder Cup Playoffs on Sunday.

Sturm was also an assistant coach for the Kings from 2018 until he took over the Reign.

The 45-year-old has also helmed the German national team, helping his country win silver at the 2018 Olympics.

The Sharks fired David Quinn in April after finishing last in the league with an abysmal 19-54-9 record. The team's next head coach will be its fourth since 2019.

San Jose won the draft lottery earlier in May, earning the right to select Macklin Celebrini first overall in June.

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