The Rangers put in a much better effort Tuesday night than they did two days before, or even the day before that.
There were more fights, more possession and more chances.
For at least 40 minutes it didn’t feel like the ice was tilting against them.
But once again the best player on the ice was the goalie, and the Rangers once again didn’t do enough to help him.
That first part is pretty much a given for Igor Shesterkin, and even more so in these playoffs.
If the Rangers can somehow win this series after their 3-2 loss to the Panthers on Thursday night and move Florida one win closer to the Cup Final, Shesterkin will undoubtedly be the front-runner for the Conn Smythe Trophy.
The Rangers know it too.
After old friend Niko Mikkola beat the goalie with a shorthanded rush early in the second half, three Rangers players pounced on the Panthers defenseman.
Erik Gustavsson ended up taking a step too far in the process, costing the Rangers a 5-on-3 opportunity, but even manager Peter Laviolette didn’t really fault him for the message he was sending.
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“At that point in the game, 5-on-3 is probably better. [but] “I understand that’s the reaction there,” Laviolette said. “They were in a scrum, it was a physical battle that had been going on all series, so somebody goes in to protect the goalie, which is great, but this is playoff hockey and you have to be in control of the situation.”
With the Rangers under pressure in the final period, Shesterkin blocked two through-the-legs chances from Eetu Luostarinen and Anton Rundell, and he blocked a total of five high-danger chances in the first 10 minutes of the third period alone, per Natural Stat Trick.
Randle eventually broke through to give Florida a 2-1 lead on the next Grade A chance.
And aside from the power play, where the Rangers never got close to scoring, they still didn’t have much control of the puck in the third period.
Shesterkin kept his promise the rest of the way, making a windmill save on a Sam Reinhart shot with 5:49 left to elicit chants of “Ig-Oh.”
Shesterkin was arguably the best player in the series after playing an excellent first 40 minutes.
He’s the player most asked to do the work and he’s filling that role well, recording 32 stops on Thursday.
For now, he is the biggest reason to believe they can bounce back in this series.
“Obviously we have the best goalie,” Mika Zibandjed said, “and they have a very good goalie.”
The Rangers would be better off taking advantage of that.
