First Period:
- Vincent Trocheck (7) Assists: Adam Fox (5), Artemi Panarin (8)
- Carter Verhaeghe (8) (Power Play) Assists: Sam Bennett (3), Anton Lundell (8)
Second Period:
Third Period:
Overtime:
- Barclay Goodrow (4) Assists: Vincent Trocheck (9), Jacob Trouba (4)
Stats:
Adam Rotter:
- This was, obviously, a much better performance from the Rangers. It was a much more even game with both teams getting their stretches to dominate and in the end the Rangers were able to get the last goal and tie the series.
- I never would have believed that the Rangers would win a game in this series if they lost the special teams battle. The PP seems to be struggling with Florida’s pressure and PK style and they had that 4-on-3 opportunity, but they weren’t able to generate a ton. It was Florida’s second PK in the first period that tilted the momentum from the Rangers good start. Ultimately they were able to win, but the PP needs to get going because they aren’t generating a ton of high quality chances.
- The Rangers brought Barclay Goodrow in and signed him to a six-year contract for moments and games like these.
- It was great to see Matt Rempe taking regular shifts. He was physical and while I don’t think it mattered to Florida that he played, there is such a buzz that comes through the building when he steps on the ice. The Rangers have less control over his matchups on the road, but I think the Rangers have to keep him in.
- Losing Jimmy Vesey hurts, though. We don’t know how series his shoulder injury is, but it didn’t look great and him not returning also isn’t a great sign for his availability on Sunday.
- If Vesey comes out then Peter Laviolette can easily just slot Kaapo Kakko back in with no issues, but Blake Wheeler took warmups tonight and I think he’s going to get into the lineup soon. If it were me, I would have scratched Jack Roslovic over Kakko, especially since this kind of style seems to fit Kakko more, but the Rangers likely stuck with Roslovic because he’s a shooter. He’s not nearly the two-way player Kakko is, but Roslovic shoots and the Rangers needed more of those and the potential those shots might bring.
- We are still in the here and now as the Eastern Conference Finals are tied at 1, but it’s not hard to see the Rangers going into next season with Filip Chytil on the top-line with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. Maybe the Rangers will shift Chytil back to the third line center spot, but he has a skillset that might complement those two. He was the best player on that line tonight. Mika Zibanejad seemed to struggle handling the puck and Chris Kreider had a couple of moments, but Florida is doing a great job defending right in front of the net and taking away the spot where he can do the most damage.
- Offensively the Rangers were better today, but a lot of it came in short spurts. They went a long stretch, maybe more than one, without getting a shot and the Panthers are doing a good job clogging things up and taking away time and space from the Rangers top-six. Florida’s Barkov line was great for the Panthers and the Rangers need their top guys to get up to that level.
- It’s obviously a huge win because, as ESPN loved to keep mentioning, history is not on the side of the team that goes down 0-2. But they showed, after a lackluster effort in Game 1 that they can hang with and beat this Panthers team. They need to get the PP going, especially if they are going to get more than 1 or 2 opportunities, but it was a much better performance. They still need to clean things up and play that straight-ahead game for 60 minutes, but tonight had a lot of positives that they can take down to Florida.