Stanley Cup Notebook: Rangers Ice Penguins, Ducks Never Say Die

The Penguins cut the lead to 2-1 with 6:48 remaining in the third period but the Rangers were able to hang on for a 2-1 series lead.

* Chris Kreider scored his first goal of the postseason, which also stood as his fifth career playoff game-winning goal. Kreider moved into a tie with Adam Graves for fifth on the Rangers' all-time playoff game-winning goals list.

* Henrik Lundqvist stopped 23 of 24 shots to earn his second victory of the series. With 45 career postseason victories (45-49), Lundqvist moved into a tie with Tony Esposito and Jonathan Quick for 20th on the NHL's all-time playoff wins list.

* Dan Girardi (0-2—2) posted the second multi-assist playoff performance of his career; he also collected 0-2—2 on May 4, 2014 at PIT (3-2 OT W).

* With 23 career playoff assists, Girardi leapfrogged Barry Beck and Sergei Zubov for sole possession of fifth on the Rangers' all-time playoff assists list among defensemen. With 29 career playoff points (6-23—29), Girardi also moved into sole possession of seventh on their all-time playoff points list among defensemen.

* Carl Hagelin opened the scoring on a breakaway with his first goal of the postseason.

* Alain Vigneault earned his 52nd career playoff win and passed Roger Neilson to move into a tie with Jack Adams and Bryan Murray for 19th on the NHL's all-time postseason wins list among head coaches. The victory was also Vigneault's 15th playoff win as coach of the Rangers, tying Fred Shero for fifth on their all-time playoff wins list among head coaches.

* The Rangers have posted an 8-1 series record in the last nine postseason series in which they won Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead, dating to their 4-3 series win vs. NJD from May 15-27, 1994.

* All three games of the series have ended in regulation with the victors earning a one-goal win in each contest (2-1 W for NYR in Game 1 and 4-3 W for PIT in Game 2). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time a First Round series began with three consecutive regulation one-goal wins for either team was when Detroit played Nashville from April 11-15, 2012 (3-2 W for NSH in Game 1, 3-2 W for DET in Game 2 and 3-2 W for NSH in Game 3).

* ICYMI: Girardi was mic'd up when he received the Broadway Hat in the locker room after the game.

DUCKS STAGE (YET ANOTHER) THIRD-PERIOD COMEBACK

Down 4-3 after 40 minutes, Ryan Kesler scored the tying goal with 2:14 remaining in regulation and Rickard Rakell scored at 5:12 of overtime to power the Ducks to a 3-0 series lead.

* The Ducks also earned victories in Game 1 and Game 2 after facing a one-goal deficit through 40 minutes. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Ducks are the first team in NHL history to earn three consecutive wins when trailing entering the third period within a single playoff series.

* Elias also says that from March 21-30, 1943, Boston won Game 1, Game 3 and Game 5 of their series versus Montreal after trailing when entering the third period of each contest.

* The Ducks' third-period comebacks have continued a trend from the regular season. In 2014-15, Anaheim set an NHL record for wins when trailing at any point in the third period (18). The Ducks also matched a League record with 12 victories when trailing after two periods (12-23-0).

* According to the Elias Sports Bureau, at 21 years, 350 days old, Rakell became the youngest player in Ducks history to score an overtime goal in the playoffs. Paul Kariya held the previous record when he scored an overtime-winner on April 27, 1997 vs. PHX (3-2 OT W) at 22 years, 193 days old.

* Kesler (1-1—2) had an assist to record his 10th career multi-point playoff game.

* Jakob Silfverberg (1-2—3) posted the first three-point playoff performance of his career and is 2-2—4 in his past two games. Andrew Cogliano (0-3—3) had the first three-point playoff game of his career.

* Francois Beauchemin (0-2—2) recorded his 31st and 32nd career playoff points via a two-assist performance (10-22—32), passing Chris Pronger for sole possession of fifth on the Ducks' all-time playoff points list and for second on their all-time playoff points list among defensemen.

* Cam Fowler scored at 19:53 of the first period. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Fowler was the third player in Ducks history to score a playoff goal with seven seconds or less remaining in a period. Teemu Selanne also scored at 19:53 of the third period on April 18, 1997 vs. PHX (4-2 W) and Joffrey Lupul scored at 19:54 of the second period on May 5, 2006 vs. COL (5-0 W).

* Frederik Andersen made 31 saves, including robbing Winnipeg's Bryan Little with 1:01 remaining in regulation, to earn his third straight win of the postseason. Andersen is 6-2 in 10 career playoff games.

* Corey Perry (1-0—1) is 3-2—5 in his past three games.

'WHITE OUT' RETURNS IN WINNIPEG

The game Monday marked the first time an NHL playoff game had been contested in the City of Winnipeg since April 28, 1996 vs. DET (4-1 L). Fans of the original Jets franchise became famous for wearing white during the postseason, starting what became known as the 'White Out'. The tradition continued on Monday night.



DUBNYK, WILD SHUTOUT BLUES FOR 2-1 SERIES LEAD

Devan Dubnyk stopped all 17 shots he faced and three different skaters collected multiple points to propel the Wild to a 2-1 series lead.

* Dubnyk earned the first playoff shutout of his career and joined Ilya Bryzgalov and Darcy Kuemper as the only goaltenders in Wild history to earn a postseason shutout. Dubnyk became the first goaltender to earn a shutout in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* Eight points outside of a playoff spot when he made his Wild debut on Jan. 15, Dubnyk posted a record of 27-9-2 with a 1.78 goals-against average, .936 save percentage and five shutouts to lead the club to its third straight trip to the playoffs. That included a 12-game road winning streak at the end the season, tying the 2005-06 Detroit Red Wings for the longest such run in League history.

* Overall, Dubnyk concluded the regular season second in the NHL with a 2.07 GAA and .929 save percentage. He also ranked in the top 10 and set career-highs in shutouts (t-4th, 6) and wins (t-6th; 36).

* Jason Pominville (1-1—2) opened the scoring and had an assist to record his second multi-point game of the postseason and the eighth such performance of his career. The marker also stood as Pominville's fourth career playoff game-winning goal and his first in a Wild uniform.

* Zach Parise (1-1—2) scored his first goal of the playoffs and had an assist to record his second multi-point game of the postseason and the 16th such performance of his career. Parise is the Wild's all-time leader in playoff assists with 13.

* Mikael Granlund (0-2—2) recorded his first career multi-assist playoff game and his second career multi-point game of the postseason; he posted 2-0—2 on May 6, 2014 vs. CHI (4-0 W).

* Nino Niederreiter scored an empty-net goal.

* Minnesotam which dropped Game 2 (4-1 L), has not lost consecutive games in regulation since Jan. 11 and 13 (4-1 L at CHI and 7-2 L at PIT). Dubnyk was acquired by the Wild on Jan. 14.


AFTER THREE GAMES

The Rangers and the Wild took a 2-1 series lead; the Ducks took a 3-0 lead in their series.

* When teams are tied 1-1 in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoffs series, Elias says that the winner of Game 3 holds an all-time series record of 189-92 (67.3 percent). Overall, teams that hold a 2-1 lead in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoffs series hold an all-time series record of 307-136 (69.3%).

* Elias also says teams that go up 3-0 in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoffs series hold an all-time series record of 175-4 (97.8%).

LOOSE PUCKS

Pittsburgh forward Patric Hornqvist scored his first postseason goal in a Penguins uniform. ... Pittsburgh forward Sidney Crosby (0-1—1) has posted 2-1—3 in his last two games. ... Winnipeg forward Lee Stempniak opened the scoring with the first playoff goal in franchise history in Winnipeg. ... Winnipeg defenseman Tyler Myers scored his first career power-play goal of the postseason. ... Winnipeg forward Bryan Little scored his first career postseason goal. ... Winnipeg defenseman Toby Enstrom (0-1—1) recorded his first career postseason point. ... Winnipeg forward Adam Lowry (0-1—1) extended his playoff point streak to three games (1-2—3). ... Vancouver forward Alexandre Burrows will not be suspended for Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round series against the Flames. In Game 3 on Sunday, Burrows received an instigator penalty at 18:35 of the third period in an incident with Calgary defenseman Kris Russell. ... The NHL announced updated start time and national television information for the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round games scheduled for Thursday, April 23. ... Daryl Katz, Chairman of Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG), announced that Bob Nicholson has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. ... ICYMI: Washington defenseman Matt Niskanen took his turn behind his hockey stick microphone to get inside information from teammate Jason Chimera. ... Click here for an all-access look at the sights and sounds from Sunday's Stanley Cup Playoffs action.