First Period:
Second Period:
- Chris Kreider (8) (Shorthanded) Assists: Mika Zibanejad (12)
- Gustav Forsling (4) Assists: Sam Bennett (4), Aaron Ekblad (5)
Third Period:
- Anton Lundell (3) Assists: Eetu Luostarinen (4)
- Sam Bennett (5) (Empty Net) Unassisted
- Alexis Lafreniere (8) Assists: Mika Zibanejad (13), Chris Kreider (4)
Stats:
Adam Rotter:
- They were certainly better tonight, it just wasn’t enough.
- All the players that needed to be better were better. Chris Kreider scored, Mika Zibanejad had two assists and was noticeable and Artemi Panarin, when he wasn’t mobbed, was looking to shoot. It still wasn’t enough, but for the first time, at least Zibanejad and Kreider, looked like they finally showed up.
- The Rangers sure had the puck a lot more tonight and played a competitive 60 minutes. This wasn’t one where the Panthers dominated, it was the Rangers best performance of the series, but it still wasn’t enough. They had a lot of puck possession and moved it around but the Panthers were still in all the shooting and passing lanes and so while the Rangers had the puck, they didn’t always have something to do with it.
- Defensively the Rangers still had far too many breakdowns and too many situations where Igor Shesterkin was basically on an island.
- Shesterkin, again, was terrific, but in the end, the Panthers got one more save.
- What wasn’t better, or any good, was the PP. They had a chance in each period and got very few chances. They won the special teams battle by scoring shorthanded and the PK was very good, but the PP couldn’t get it done when they needed it to.
- So now the Rangers have to win or their season ends. It would have been nice to see the Rangers play the whole series like they did tonight, but at least they found a better form and can take that into Game 6. They need to be desperate and execute well if they want to push this season to Monday, otherwise what seemed like it had the potential to be a magical season will end on Saturday night.
- They are more than capable of winning Game 6, but they need to be able to score and not let every shot against Igor Shesterkin feel like it has the weight of the season on it.