Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe each produced a goal and an assist and Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves to lead the Florida Panthers to a 3-0 win over the New York Rangers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final at Madison Square Garden.
After leveling former Panther Vincent Trocheck with a big hit earlier in the frame, Tkachuk opened the scoring with 3:34 remaining in the first. Gustav Forsling skated into Verhaeghe enervated centering pass from the right boards and then dished off to Tkachuk after crossing the Rangers blue line. Tkachuk used Adam Fox as a screen and beat Igor Shesterkin’s glove from the top of the left circle.
The Rangers had a great chance to tie, but defenseman Braden Schneider’s breakaway chance clanged off the post, allowing the Cats to get to the dressing room up by a one.
Florida kept their hosts bottled up in the second period, limiting them to seven shots on goal after allowing just five in the first. Although he wasn’t facing many shots, Bobrovsky remained razor sharp, kicking aside another breakaway opportunity, this time by Will Cuylle, and swallowing up a Trocheck redirection.
Aleksander Barkov had the Panthers’ best chance of the stanza, but Shesterkin was able to get part of his glove on the captain’s backhander from the low slot.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson appeared to give the Cats some breathing room at 8:45 of the third with a wrister from the left circle. The Rangers challenged the play for goaltender interference and the goal was overturned as Ryan Lomberg made contact with Shesterkin before he was pushed over by Ryan Lindgren.
Bobrovsky would come up huge during a dangerous sequence with back-to-back saves on Alex Wennberg and then got a little help from the plumbing behind him as Alexis Lafrenière caught iron after Forsling blocked an attempt from Jacob Trouba.
Verhaeghe would finally grow the lead with 3:34 remaining in regulation. Shesterkin tried to shoot the puck off the boards to bypass Verhaeghe, but miscalculated his angle and turned it over instead. Hoping to find Tkachuk, Verhaeghe threw the puck in front and a backchecking Lafrenière tipped it between his goalie’s skates and into the net. Oops!
Another stellar kick save from Bobrovsky on Mika Zibanejad preserved the shutout and Sam Bennett iced it with a long-range empty-netter with the lone assist going to Tkachuk at 18:41.
Florida won its fourth straight on the road thanks in large part to a suffocating defensive effort. The Cats played a really clean game, doing a good job of staying out of the penalty box, although the too many penalty was annoying, and only being tagged for two giveaways. While there is room for improvement, that was a highly-encouraging result that gives the Panthers home-ice advantage, and puts a lot of pressure on the Rangers heading into Friday’s Game 2.
Bulls & Bears
- First Star Sergei Bobrovsky posted his second career postseason shutout. His first came exactly one year ago against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final. Bobrovsky lowered his GAA to 2.17 and upped his save percentage to .909.
- Matthew Tkachuk, who also opened the scoring in the last round against Boston, recorded his 13th career multi-point playoff game as a Panther. Tkachuk leads the Cats in playoff scoring with 16 points.
- In addition to his empty-netter, Sam Bennett had a quietly effective outing. Bennett matched Carter Verhaeghe with a game-high five shots, and was credited with four hits and a block in 13:17 of ice time.
- Vincent Trocheck, Alexis Lafrenière and Artemi Panarin each had three shots on goal for the Rangers. Lafrenière and Panarin were on the ice for all three Florida goals.
- The Panthers fourth line was rock solid throughout. Kevin Stenlund won four draws and registered a shot and two blocks; Nick Cousins had two shots and a block; and Ryan Lomberg dished out a team-high five hits and put a shot on goal.
- For the sadder side of Game 1, stop by Blueshirt Banter.