The Rangers responded to their Game 1 elimination by beating the Florida Panthers in their own game with a 2-1 overtime win on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
New York tied the series at 1-1 thanks to a Barclay Goodrow game winner in extra period. Jacob Trouba put a high puck in the neutral zone before giving it away Vincent Trocheck which Goodrow found just outside the left circle. Goodrow fired the puck over the goalie’s right shoulder for the win.
Here are the takeaways…
-After the Rangers’ slow Game 1, the Blueshirts were noticeably faster and more aggressive on the ice. The Panthers were so physical in the first game that it completely took the Rangers out of their game and they were eliminated for the first time since December.
New York matched the Panther’s aggression and it paid off in the first period with the first goal of the series for the Rangers. Alexis Lafreniere who had the ‘accidental’ own goal in the series opener, took out a defender and forced the puck loose for Adam Fox to leave Trocheck behind Sergei Bobrovsky for the easy goal.
After the goal, the Panthers objected to the goal and Carter Verhage knocked out Lafreniere, causing a brawl between the teams, leading to a Rangers power play. Unfortunately, New York couldn’t capitalize, which was a theme in this game.
-The Rangers went 0-for-4 with the man advantage on Friday evening. They are now 0-for-6 in the first two games of this series.
-The Panthers took over the game after the Rangers goal. The physicality they showed in Game 1 returned, leading to opportunities in the Rangers zone. A Florida power play in the final minutes led to a goal by Verhaghe as the first period ended, 1-1.
The shots on goal were almost even, 8-7 in favor of the Rangers. New York defeated the Panthers 21-15 in the first.
-The second period started the same way as the first. The Rangers just couldn’t get any momentum going offensively and didn’t get a shot on goal for more than eleven minutes of ice – from the end of the first to the start of the second – but then the pendulum swung both ways. for most of the middle period.
It was a very entertaining period with incredible saves from both goalkeepers, pucks hitting the crossbar, posts and more. The same was the case for the third, where both teams treated it as a sudden death, with the next goal allowed deciding the match. However, Florida had plenty of opportunities to score in the third inning, thanks to the Rangers’ giveaways. They had a total of 10 in this game, but Igor Shesterkin was the equalizer for New York and saved the Rangers bacon more than once.
-Shesterkin kept the Rangers in this game when his teammates were too careless with the puck and made some big saves. In all, Shesterkin made 26 saves, including a big one when the Panthers threatened with a short-handed try.
On the other hand, Bobrosvky might have been better, making 28 saves, including six on power plays.
In total, the Rangers scored 51 goals – compared to Game 1’s 27 – and defeated the Panthers 30-27. In the entire first match they had 24 shots on target.
–Kaapo Kakko was a healthy scratch on Friday night, his first since Game 6 of the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals. In his place, Matt Rempe played and was on the ice for 10 minutes – a playoff highlight. He had nine hits and was greeted by “Rem-pe” chants from the MSG faithful every time he checked in.
Jimmy Vesey left the game after taking a hard hit in the second period. The Rangers called it an upper-body injury, but his absence meant extra ice time for other wingers.
Game MVP: Igor Shesterkin
The Rangers netminder was incredible in this one. While he didn’t have as many saves as his counterpart, he was a wall and never looked nervous when Florida came at him.
Highlights
What’s next
The Rangers and Panthers travel to Florida for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The puck drop is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.
