NHL Playoffs: Mika Zibanejad scores OT winner for Rangers (Video)

The New York Rangers took a 3-2 series lead Thursday night with Mika Zibanejad’s winning goal in overtime.

The New York Rangers will take a slight advantage into Madison Square Garden for Game 6 as they now lead this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series 3-2 over the Montreal Canadiens. Mika Zibanejad scored his first goal of the 2017 NHL playoffs with 5:38 left to play in overtime to give the road team the win.

Zibanejad got his stick on the end of a great cross-zone pass by Chris Kreider to beat the diving Carey Price, after a strong shift by the Rangers to break out and move into the Habs’ end of the ice. The goal was Zibanejad’s second point of these playoffs, and tenth postseason point of his career.

The game was even most of the way through, with both teams recording 36 shots on the night. The Canadiens drew first blood, with Artturi Lehkonen scoring his second of the playoffs at the 12:07 mark of the first period.

New York evened the game twice, with Jesper Fast making it 1-1 at 15:56 of the first and Brady Skjei scoring late in the second period to make it 2-2. Winning their second game in a row, the Rangers have given themselves a slight edge heading into the next game.

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Game 6 of the series will be this Saturday, April 22 at 8 pm ET, as the Rangers take their lead back home and host Montreal at Madison Square Garden. The Habs will be fighting for their lives on the road, as New York looks to become the next Eastern Conference team to advance. The winner of this series will play either the Boston Bruins or Ottawa Senators. Ottawa is leading that series 3-1 with a chance to win it Friday night.