The Rangers had never trailed in a series this postseason until the Panthers started the Eastern Conference Finals at home in the concrete jungle.
It took 10 games and two rounds to get there, but the Blueshirts finally faced off against a Florida team, winning Game 1 3-0 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night to become the first club to win a shutout this postseason and take their first shot at a spot in the Stanley Cup Final.
“It’s a seven-game series,” Jimmy Vesey said, “and we’ve been on the other side of it. You look at the last round, teams responded and pushed and we’ve been the team that’s responded all year and handled every challenge. So our mindset’s no different.”
There was still a lot of room for improvement in Rangers’ play in this game.
That’s not to say that Rangers didn’t create scoring chances, quality chances at that, but there was a certain disconnect that diminished their overall execution in taking advantage of them.
The Rangers’ self-inflicted mistakes put the Panthers in situations that they almost always took advantage of.
Florida State was as nasty and productive below the hash mark as it is known for.
The Panthers put pressure on the Rangers in every situation.
The Blueshirts looked disorganized at times.
Coach Peter Laviolette, with the Rangers leading 1-0 after a Matthew Tkachuk goal in the first period, began thinking frantically about line combinations midway through the second.
There was also some Kid Line sightings as Alexis Lafreniere, Philippe Stirl and Kaapo Kakko reunited for the first time since their 10-game losing season, when they logged a combined 5:46 minutes.
None of the changes had the desired effect as the Panthers were unable to find any groove with the Rangers.
“We could have done a better job of getting out of our own half and through the neutral zone, which would have led to more offense,” Laviolette said. “In the offensive zone, there are areas we can improve on, moving the puck, moving at a faster pace, getting more guys in the zone.”
The Rangers still had chances late in the third period, but a successful challenge on goaltender interference on Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s goal created one with less than half of 20 minutes remaining.
The home team’s lead remained at one point with 11 minutes, 15 seconds remaining, but the Rangers couldn’t score the tying goal until late in the final frame when Alexis Lafreniere inadvertently deflected a centering pass from Carter Verhage.
Florida’s Sam Bennett then added a goal through the air in the closing seconds.
The Panthers were penalized at 13:11 of the third period for having too many men on the ice to give the Rangers a power play, giving them their third man advantage of the night, but the Panthers still couldn’t make their usual special plays with a man advantage.
This marks the fifth game this postseason in which a goal was not scored on the power play.
“What you want to see is [the team get energy from the successful challenge]“We have to give a little more reason for the building,” Laviolette said.
The Rangers had a really hard time getting the puck out of their own half, especially in the first period, committing seven turnovers.
It certainly contributed directly to the team’s numerous failed clear attempts.
And when they lost the puck, it was always difficult to get it back as the Panthers rushed to keep the ball under the hash marks.
Tkachuk eventually scored the first goal of the game on a wrister off the rush, sending the Rangers into the first intermission up 1-0.
The Panthers were a team that could outscore most opponents, but their defensive effort improved significantly under second-year head coach Paul Maurice.
That was on full display Wednesday night at MSG in front of blue-clad fans who cheered the goal with fervor.
They will have to wait and hope that happens in Game 2 on Friday.
