SUNRISE, Fla. — The Rangers played more defensively than they probably wanted in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Panthers, but not as well as they had in the previous two games.
The Blueshirts kept the puck on their sticks more often, so they weren’t under siege and were able to control the flow of the game much better.
Florida held an 18-7 lead in high-danger opportunities on Thursday to strengthen its 63-34 advantage overall in the series, still showing a clear advantage in the quality of scoring chances.
“To me, it was similar to the first two games here,” Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette said, “It was a back-and-forth game, and it was the same with the first two games. What we needed to do was cut down on some of the time we were spending in the defensive zone, and I think we did that.” [in Game 5]We were able to grab it and get out. They only did it a couple of shifts in the game.
“They caught our charges a couple of times, caught our breakthroughs, got some guys behind us. Those were some of the big chances, those were the goals, those were some of the big chances.”
According to NHL Edge, the Rangers have spent 43 percent of their ice time in the defensive zone during this season’s playoffs, compared to just 38.3 percent for the Panthers.
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There’s no doubt that the dramatic imbalance in this series is also reflected in Florida’s 43.8 percent of games in the offensive zone.
The Rangers’ 27 shots in Game 5 were the second-most of the series, behind the 30 they took in Game 2, and helped tie the series at 1-1.
“We had a few chances in the third period, but I think when they score, we just try to go in a little more desperate,” Mika Zibandeg said. “But in the first and second periods, we were a little up and down, but they obviously had the momentum, and I thought we took advantage of what they were giving us.”
The Blueshirts enter Saturday night’s Game 6 with a 5-2 record on the road in this postseason season.
This marks the seventh time in franchise history that the team has won five or more road games in a playoff year.
The 1994 team set a record with seven.
