SUNRISE, Fla. — Filip Sitil was outstanding in the Rangers' 5-3 loss to the Panthers on Monday night at Amerank Bank Arena, briefly tying the game in the second period. He scored the team's first goal in the middle.
Carrying the puck up the ice and into the offensive zone, the Czech center deflected it, found the back of the net, and recovered the rebound to cut Florida's lead in half at 2-1 at the 14:25 mark.
Sitil finished with a game-high seven shots on goal.
He was a good jumper, dynamic and strong with the puck.
Still, head coach Peter Laviolette opted to put Mika Zibanejad on the ice in place of Sitil for a 6-on-4 power play as the Reds looked to tie the game at an empty net in the final minutes of regulation.
“There's a group that we work on things with and look at things with, and there's a group that has been working together,” Laviolette said, adding that it was inconceivable that Sitil would be there in the end considering his strong game. answered when asked if he had been. “I mean, he played well. He was scheduled to go out with the second unit, but he just couldn't get any change with guys to change.”
Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov then scored a goal into an empty net to end the game.
Since returning from a seven-game absence due to an upper-body injury, Sitil hasn't skated with the same conviction he had at the beginning of the season. He has seven goals, six assists and 13 points in 29 games.
“It felt great,” Sittil said after the game. “It felt really good to play the puck a lot. We had a lot of chances, I had a lot of chances. Goals decide the game, that's what I work on every day. It could be more than one today, but it's something I have to work on.
Goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who turned 29 on Monday, dropped to 11-15-1 on the season, but made 21 saves out of 25 shots taken.
Laviolette unsuccessfully contested Macky Samoskevic's second goal of the night for the Panthers for goaltender interference.
This season's challenge record is 2 wins and 3 losses.
“Igor tried to make a save with his glove, but he got pushed off while the glove was still in the blue paint,” he said. “So, I think it's a save. To me, it's 100 percent goaltender interference based on what we've learned from the league and what we continue to learn from the league. It's goaltender interference.”
The Rangers are scheduled to take Tuesday off and are scheduled to return to the ice Wednesday to practice at the MSG Training Center.
