Rick Nash's hat trick gives Rangers 5-4 overtime win over Panthers

Rick Nash rescued the Rangers on Saturday night.

Nash, who entered with only two goals all season, scored his third goal of the game on a power play 2:01 into overtime to give the Rangers a 5-4 win over the Panthers.

"It's nice to get those goals, but it's one game. I'm not going to get ahead of myself," he said. "It's been a tough start for me individually. It's funny how it works. I [made] the turnover on their tying goal. The puck was bouncing on me, and I couldn't get it out, so it was nice to score that last one."

Down 4-2, Florida scored twice in 39 seconds late in the third period to tie it. With goalie Roberto Luongo pulled for an extra skater, former Ranger Jaromir Jagr scored the tying goal with 1:49 left. Said Nash, "We had some chances and thought we put the game away [at 4-2]. It really was a weird game."

The Panthers were awarded a penalty shot seven seconds later, but Henrik Lundqvist (39 saves) forced Reilly Smith to shoot over the net.

Asked about his mindset before the penalty shot, Lundqvist said: "I better not give up this one or then I'm going to be sick. No, I didn't think about consequences, just thinking about stopping the shot. But you have to calm down and think what you need to do."

The 15th win for the Rangers (15-3-2), who have won seven straight against the Panthers, marks the most victories in the first 20 games in franchise history. The 32 points in 20 games tied the franchise mark set in 1971-72 (14-2-4).

With the score tied at 2 in the third period and momentum on the side of the Panthers, Derek Stepan knocked down Brian Campbell's pass and sent a stretch pass down ice to Mats Zuccarello, who sped in alone. He deked Luongo to the ice and scored on the forehand at 10:16. It was the team-leading 10th goal for Zuccarello, who also assisted on Nash's first two goals.

Then three Rangers who had struggled all night -- Viktor Stalberg, Oscar Lindberg and J.T. Miller -- combined for Stalberg's goal 1:58 later, which extended the lead to 4-2.

But Luongo (26 saves) was pulled twice for a sixth skater and the Panthers scored twice in 39 seconds. Stalberg went off for interference at 3:11 and Aleksander Barkov's rebound on the power play pulled Florida within a goal with 2:28 left. Jagr's top-shelfer tied the score at 4.

"They were good at finding lanes and tipping pucks,'' Marc Staal said. "When they make plays like that, it's tough to defend. It's not the way we're used to closing a hockey game."

Said Lundqvist: "Not playing smart almost cost us here. When you give up a lead late like that, it's shocking."

For the second straight game, Chris Kreider was denied on a penalty shot. Kreider, stopped by Luongo in the first period, was the first Ranger to take a penalty shot in consecutive games, according to Elias. Marian Hossa was the last NHL player to do it in 2005 with the Atlanta Thrashers.

Nash put the Rangers on the board at 11:08 after he stopped Ryan McDonagh's pass with his right skate in the lower right circle and beat Luongo for his third goal of the season. Zuccarello had set up McDonagh's feed.

But the Rangers were loose in their own end, and the Panthers threatened constantly, forcing Lundqvist to play his A-game.

After the Rangers killed a penalty and Lundqvist broke up an attempted two-on-one with a pokeaway, Stalberg's turnover allowed Nick Bjugstad's tying goal at 6:46 of the second. Nash's second goal came when he bulled past Bjugstad down the left side and beat Luongo at 13:22.