The Florida Panthers led twice, but couldn’t hold on, eventually dropping a tough 4-3 shootout decision to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Florida has now lost four consecutive games for just the second time this season.
Matthew Tkachuk opened the scoring 8:18 into the first when he deflected Josh Mahura’s shot from the left point up and over Igor Shesterkin. Carter Verhaeghe drew the second assist for firing the puck cross-ice back to the defenseman.
The Panthers went up by two 21 seconds into the middle frame, with Eetu Luostarinen doing the honors by stuffing in a perfect goalmouth pass from Sam Reinhart on a two-on-one break. Uvis Balinksis triggered the rush by backhanding the puck to Reinhart, who chipped it past Erik Gustafsson.
With Kyle Okposo off for holding, Vincent Trocheck took a pass from Mika Zibanejad and then slipped the puck under Kevin Stenlund’s stick to Adam Fox. Fox took advantage of a huge opening in the slot and beat Sergei Bobrovksy with a wrist shot at the 6:22 mark.
The Rangers would even the score 2:01 later when Trocheck found Artemi Panarin in the left circle and the Bread Man roofed a one-timer with the second assist going to Fox after Anton Lundell’s pass struck him the skate.
New York carried the play in the third, but it was Florida that forged ahead with 4:08 remaining in regulation.
The Panthers hemmed the Rangers in their own zone and pressured, and after Verhaeghe held the puck in after having his shot blocked, Tkachuk dropped to Brandon Montour, who fed back to Verhaeghe along the boards. Verhaeghe ended a 14-game goal drought by cutting into the right circle and zipping a shot over Shesterkin’s glove.
Panarin would tie the game 43 seconds later when his shot from just above the right circle went through heavy traffic in front and deflected in after striking Niko Mikkola’s leg and then Stenlund’s. Unlucky… The assists on the game-tying goal went to Zach Jones and Trocheck, his third helper of the night.
After an exciting overtime, which featured a highlight save by Bobrovsky on Chris Kreider, falied to produce a winner, the game went to the shootout.
Zibanejad opened the first round with a forehead-to-one-handed backhand beauty that was matched by Reinhart’s fine forehand finish.
Panarin would patiently outwait and solve Bobrovsky in the top of the second and that conversion would stand as the winner after Shesterkin stopped Lundell and Vladimir Tarasenko.
The depleted Panthers delivered a gritty effort, but it wasn’t enough to make a return to the win column. The Cats gained a point on the Boston Bruins, who were beaten by the Philadelphia Flyers, in the Atlantic Division race, while the Rangers took advantage of that loss to seize the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Florida will take on the Flyers this evening and look to avoid a fifth-straight defeat.
Bears & Bulls
- Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers. The last time Verhaeghe lit the lamp was on February 17, when he scored twice against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
- Artemi Panarin also had a goal and an assist, and registered a game-high seven shots, for the Rangers, leaving him just one point shy of his first 100-point season.
- Vincent Trocheck’s three helpers allowed him to establish a new career-high of 45 assists. Trocheck had 44 during the 2017-18 when he was member of the Panthers.
- Sam Reinhart’s pretty set up of Eetu Luostarinen’s goal was his team-leading 80th point of the season. It’s the second time Reinhart has hit 80 points in his career. He is three points from establishing a new career-high.
- Sergei Bobrovsky delivered another quality start, finishing with 34 saves. Igor Shesterkin stopped 27 of 30 shots for the home side.
- With Gustav Forsling out, Tobias Björnfot made his Florida debut. He logged 17:01 of ice time and was credited with one shot, two hits and two blocks.
- The Rangers got the win while the Panthers picked up their fifth point against New York. Blushirt Banter has more.