Barclay Goodrow scored his 4th goal of the playoffs at the 14:01 mark of OT to give the New York Rangers a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers and send the series to South Florida tied at one game apiece.
Vincent Trocheck opened the scoring early in the first period at the 4:12 mark to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead early in the game.
The Panthers would counter with a Carter Verhaeghe PP goal at 16:04 of the first period to tie the game 1-1. That was Verhaeghe’s eighth goal of the playoffs.
The Panthers did not have a solid start to the period but got going halfway through the period and were able to get the tying goal.
This Was A Must Win Game For The Rangers
This was a game the Rangers needed to win, as no team has lost their first two conference finals game in their home arena and come back to win the series.
Aaron Ekblad talked with the media after the game about the OT loss. “It’s tough to lose in overtime, but we went 1-1 in their building. They came out really, really explosive tonight, and that’s what we expected. We lost a really tight game. We’ll move on. We’ve got a quick turnaround.”
The game may have ended in regulation if not for the PK of the Panthers, which has been outstanding in the playoffs.
The Panthers had to weather a Rangers four-on-three PP for 1:25 in the second period and kept the Rangers off the scoreboard to keep it a tie game.
So far in The ECF, the Panthers are 6/6 on the PK.
Sergei Bobrovsky was once again excellent as he stopped 29/31 Ranger shots.
In the third period, Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin stood tall, stopping the Panthers numerous times as Florida had nine scoring chances to the Ranger’s five.
No Surpise That The Series Is Tied Heading To Florida
After two games, Paul Maurice said this is where he expected the series to be. “I’m fine with tonight. You shouldn’t come in and beat the Presidents’ Trophy team twice in their own building. You really shouldn’t. We got that one to overtime. We were in alone a bunch of times there, couldn’t get it to go. Two really good goaltenders at each end. This is an exciting series with exciting hockey.”
This also snapped the Panthers’ eleven-game overtime winning streak dating back to the 2021 playoffs.
Now it’s time for some home cooking as the Panthers return home to Amerant Bank Arena, where they have outscored their opponents 20-13 and own a 4-2 record in the playoffs.
As the series shifts to South Florida for the next two games, look for the offense to open up for both teams.
Paul Maurice talked about that aspect of the game after two defensive slugfests in New York.
“There is better skill on both teams than the plays that are being completed. I think it’s a bit of a challenge out there right now.”
“Two really good goaltenders at each end. Like I said, it’s an exciting series. It’s exciting hockey. Lots of hits, lots of action. It’s been great.”
Game three is scheduled for a 3 PM puck drop on Sunday Afternoon.
I hate these afternoon starts this deep into the playoffs. All games of this magnitude should be played under the lights in prime time, especially on a holiday weekend when many folks will be outdoors enjoying their Memorial Day weekend activities in the middle of their Sunday.
Game four will return to its normal start time of 8 PM.