SUNRISE, Fla. — The Eastern Conference Finals are now down to a best-of-three series.
The Rangers and Panthers have tied their first four home games, with Florida winning 3-2 on a power-play goal by Sam Reinhart just over a minute into overtime in Game 4 at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday night. Two more wins in this tightly contested series will determine who the best team on the East Coast is.
The first game of the final back-and-forth battle will be held Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
“We know we have to do better,” said Mika Zibandeg, whose intercepted pass in the offensive zone forced Blake Wheeler to take a hooking penalty, setting up the Panthers’ numerical advantage in overtime to score the game-winner. “We know we have to do more and we know the secrets to getting the game going our way and tilting the ice the other way.”
The Rangers were on and off the lead in that game, but the Panthers were largely in control in the final 40 minutes of regulation, as they were for most of the series, and Florida mounted a stifling offense.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Blueshirts are outshot 27-10 and will have a tough time scoring two more wins as they spend a lot of time nailed down in their own half, having to defend 14 high-danger opportunities compared to their own two.
“Especially in the second period, we spent a little too much time on defense,” coach Peter Laviolette said, referring to the Panthers taking a 2-1 lead midway through the game on a goal by Sam Bennett and a power-play point by Carter Verhaeghe. “It happened the same way last time, we just can’t get going and attack the way we want to. They’re coming at us hard, throwing the puck a lot, forechecking hard.
“That means you’re not spending time in the right zone. [Chris Kreider and Zibanejad]They want to get out of the defensive zone, get in the offensive zone and impact the game, and I think they’ve done that a lot better at home.”
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As strong as the Rangers’ first period was, the Panthers’ second and third periods were even stronger.
The first 20 minutes were the Rangers’ best of the series so far.
Not only did the visitors have more attacks, but they also made quicker decisions with the puck and were able to disrupt some of what the Panthers were trying to do in transition and in the zone.
On the power play, Vincent Trocheck’s one-timer in the first period snapped a streak of eight straight pointsless losses in the series, and the Rangers’ top man-advantage unit began to resemble the version they’ve seen for most of the playoffs.
However, it didn’t take long for the Panthers to tire out the Rangers as the home team tried their best to outplay their opponents as the game progressed.
Alexis Lafreniere allowed the Rangers to send the game into overtime.
The once disappointing No. 1 overall pick picked up his third goal in two games on Tuesday night, scoring the tying goal early in the third period to send the game into overtime, giving him seven goals and 13 points in 14 postseason games.
Goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin also had to be great this time around, but his 36 saves in regulation came to nothing.
So the Rangers need to win two of their next three games to pull off a win.
Two more wins will prove they are, in fact, the best team in the East.
They’re two away from clinching a Stanley Cup spot.
“Obviously, we wanted to score the third goal and make it 3-1,” said guard Adam Fox, who recorded his first multi-point game of the playoffs in the loss, “but we’re just going to get back to our home rink the next game and fight back.”
