So the Eastern Conference Final has come down to the best of three.
After both the Rangers and Panthers split at home through the first four games, with Florida taking a 3-2 win on Sam Reinhart’s power-play goal just over a minute into overtime of Game 4 Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena, the best team on the Eastern Seaboard will be revealed in who can come away with two more victories in this grueling crusade of a series.
The Rangers fell in Game 5
The first of the final back-and-forth battles will be Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers both led and trailed in this one, but reaching overtime was made possible by Alexis Lafreniere.
The once-underachieving first-overall pick collected his third goal in two games Tuesday night, the game-tying score early in the third period that forced overtime, to boost his postseason totals to seven goals and 13 points in 14 games.
Otherwise, the Panthers largely owned the final 40 minutes of regulation, outshooting the Rangers 27-10 and posting 14 high-danger chances in comparison to the Rangers’ two, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Igor Shesterkin had to be brilliant once again, as the Rangers goalie made 36 saves in regulation.
As strong as the Rangers’ first period was, the Panthers’ second period was even stronger.
The home team limited the Blueshirts to just five shots on goal as they put up 14, which reflected in the possession times of both teams throughout the middle frame.
The Panthers had the Rangers on their heels again and didn’t give up nearly as many chances as they did through the first 20 minutes.
The Rangers celebrate a goal during their Game 4 loss to the Panthers on Tuesday
Then, as the Panthers’ third power play of the evening expired, Sam Bennett followed up on his own rebound off the rush and jammed it home to even the score at one-all.
And when Barclay Goodrow was called for delay of game for flipping the puck over the glass just over two minutes later, Carter Verhaeghe crashed the net and whacked in a bouncing puck past Shesterkin for the power-play goal and a 2-1 lead at the 12:16 mark of the second period.
The opening 20 minutes of this one represented the Rangers’ best period of the series thus far.
Not only were they on the attack so much more, but the visitors made quicker decisions with the puck and managed to disrupt some of what the Panthers were trying to do in transition and in their zone.
The power play also snapped an 0-for-8 skid in the series on a one-timer from Vincent Trocheck, as the Rangers’ top man-advantage unit started to resemble what it had looked like for a majority of the playoffs.
