The Florida Panthers are one win away from their second consecutive Stanley Cup Final.
The Panthers beat the Rangers 3-2 at Madison Square Garden Thursday night, scoring two goals in the third period to return the series to Sunrise, where the Panthers can wrap up the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday night.
Florida Starts Slow… Again
Once again, Florida had a slow start, but they seemed to get better as the game progressed.
The Rangers got on the scoreboard first as Chris Kreider scored a shorthanded goal, his sixth of the playoffs, to put the Rangers up 1-0.
Just over six minutes later, Gustav Forsling scored for Florida, his fourth in the playoffs, to tie the game 1-1.
It would stay 1-1 until 10:22 of the third period when Anton Lundell scored his third of the playoffs to put the Panthers up 2-1.
Eight minutes later, a Sam Bennett empty netter would be all Florida would need as they went up 3-1 with under two minutes to play.
The Rangers would get one more at the 19:10 mark as Alexis Lafreniere would score his eighth of the playoffs to make it 3-2.
That would be the final score as the Panthers now lead the Rangers three games to two with a chance to win the series in South Florida on Saturday.
The Panthers Got Better In The Second And Third Periods
The Rangers outshot Florida 13-11 in the first period, but the Panthers would hold the Rangers to just 16 shots on goal over the final two periods, outshooting New York 37-27 in the game.
The Panthers had scored five power plays in the series so far but went 0/3 on Thursday Night.
A key to the 3-2 win was how the Panthers controlled possession of the puck. Over the final two periods, Florida made it difficult for the Rangers to find room to operate in the offensive zone.
Igor Shesterkin was again excellent in goal for the Rangers and turned away numerous grade-A scoring chances for the Panthers. And if not for the play of Shesterkin, we wouldn’t even be breaking down a game five; the series would be over by now.
The Florida PK has been outstanding so far in this series. The Rangers, who had one of the more lethal power plays during the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs, are 1/14 in the Eastern Conference Finals after going 0/3 in game five.
What has been the key to the Panthers’ solid defensive effort? Oliver Ekmann Larson talked about what makes the Panthers defense so good. “We’ve been doing a pretty good job. It comes down to our gaps, our sticks, and the same thing there. It’s moving our legs and taking time and space away.”
Paul Maurice also gave his thoughts on the Panthers’ smothering defense. “It’s almost a combination of forwards and D’s. You’ve got the Barkov effect, a Selke winner. Every team’s got, you can call ’em a shutdown pair, a team’s set of defense that, over time, spends the majority of their time against the other team’s best.”
Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad have been the Panthers’ shutdown defensemen who have throttled up the Rangers top-scoring line.
Now the Panthers can win the series on home ice on Saturday. The puck drops just after 8 PM.