NEW YORK — The Florida Panthers outshot the Rangers on Thursday, and they wore them down as the game went on. They stymied an elite power play. Igor Shesterkin kept New York within striking distance, but it wasn’t enough.
Sound familiar? The Rangers’ first matchup of the season against the Panthers looked a lot like their playoff games five months ago.
The result was also similar: The Rangers lost 3-1 in the teams’ first matchup since the Eastern Conference final. New York (5-1-1) might be off to a better start than Florida (5-3-1), but the Panthers made clear that they’re still the team to beat in the East, even with captain Aleksander Barkov (lower-body injury) missing the game.
“Everything tonight goes into a bag where it wasn’t good enough,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “You can talk about the five-on-five play, you can talk about the defense, the offense, the power play, the penalty kill. I wouldn’t say that’s who we’ve shown to be so far this season, but that’s what happened tonight.”
A frustrated Laviolette added that “it seemed like we didn’t have the pop that we needed to beat that team” and that “I thought that they were better in the first (period). I thought that they were better in the second. They were better in the third.”
And that left the Rangers with a regulation loss for the first time this season. Here are six takeaways.
Early turnovers prove costly
The Panthers jumped on the Rangers with two goals in the first three minutes, both of which came off of turnovers. Badgered by Anton Lundell less than a minute into the game, Alexis Lafrenière tried to flick the puck back into the neutral zone, where Eetu Luostarinen poked it into the Panthers’ offensive zone. Sam Reinhart beat Adam Fox for the puck along the wall. He fed Lundell in front of the net, and the Finn finished. Less than a minute in, the Panthers were ahead.
Two minutes later, Reilly Smith couldn’t grab a Jacob Trouba pass along the boards. Gustav Forsling grabbed possession and passed to Carter Verhaeghe, who beat Shesterkin glove side. With that, the Rangers were playing behind the whole night.
“I hated the start when we gave up the goals like that,” Laviolette said. “You’re playing a team that typically doesn’t give up much and put yourself in a hole right away.”
“They’re a good team, but it didn’t really matter who we played tonight because we would have given the other team a lot of chances,” Chris Kreider added.
Everyone on the top line (Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Smith) finished with a minus-2 rating, and the Panthers controlled high-danger chances, shot attempts and expected goals with that group on the ice, per Natural Stat Trick.
“We gave them a little bit too much in terms of our turnovers and not getting our offense going by getting on our forecheck,” Zibanejad said. “I thought they played on their blue line and forward for most of the game.”
Lafrenière continues hot start, but offense runs out in third
Lafreniére atoned for his earlier miscue with a pretty goal in the first period. Adam Fox found him all alone in front of the net. He cut in front, then backhanded the puck past Bobrovsky. The 23-year-old is up to four goals and seven points through the first seven games. All his point production has been at even strength.
The feed. The finish. No notes. pic.twitter.com/vYMXTSUoRk
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 24, 2024
Though the Artemi Panarin–Vincent Trocheck-Lafrenière trio (minimum three minutes of ice time) allowed some chances against and was on the ice for Florida’s first goal, the Rangers had more than 50 percent of the expected goal share with it, according to Natural Stat Trick. The first-period goal was the only time the group put the puck in the net, though. Panarin didn’t pick up an assist on Lafrenière’s goal, so his season-opening point streak is over at six games.
Laviolette jumbled the lines in the third period, trying to spark some offense. It didn’t make the difference. He thought his team didn’t generate enough that period, and the numbers reflect that. Florida had more than 70 percent of the expected goal share in the final frame at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick. That’s a concerning trend going back to last season’s playoff series when the Panthers wore the Rangers down as games progressed.
Difficult night for the Lindgren-Mancini pair
Ryan Lindgren mentioned feeling some rust Tuesday in his first game back, and he looks like he’s still finding his rhythm. He played only 15:14, the lowest of any Rangers’ defenseman, and New York had only one shot attempt on net with him on the ice while surrendering nine, per Natural Stat Trick. Mancini, meanwhile, had the lowest expected goals for percentage on the team (4.97 percent). The tough showing came on the heels of the Rangers’ putting veteran defenseman Chad Ruhwedel on waivers, which could indicate Mancini will be with the NHL club for at least the immediate future.
Bobrovsky stands tall
The Panthers got a taste last playoffs of how hard it is to beat an elite goalie at the top of his game. Shesterkin excelled throughout the Eastern Conference final and was the primary reason New York extended the series to six games.
Bobrovsky gave New York a taste of its own medicine on Thursday. He made life difficult on the Rangers, making 24 saves in his 400th career win. During one sequence he halted a good Braden Schneider look, then extended his skate to stop Vincent Trocheck’s rebound attempt.
“He’s a great goalie, obviously, but that’s not the way we want to play, giving up too much, making it too hard on our goaltender,” Kreider said.
Shesterkin had a good night in his own regard. He made 26, including a sprawling glove save to rob Carter Verhaeghe on a Panthers’ power play. Florida easily could’ve extended its lead at points, but Shesterkin kept the Rangers within two goals. The goals Shesterkin did allow were hard to pin on him. The Rangers left Lundell all alone on the first goal, and Sam Bennett redirected in the third.
Lackluster power-play night
Winning the special teams battle is a key part of the Rangers’ formula for success, but the Panthers kept them off the board on four power plays.
“I thought we couldn’t really get set up,” Zibanejad said. “I thought we had some good looks when we did.”
The team’s top power-play unit left the ice earlier than normal on multiple occasions, which Zibanejad said was because they had the puck cleared multiple times.
“The times we stay out there longer is usually when we have more established zone time,” he said. “We’re two units out there, too. So if it’s not working for us, get the other unit out there and give them a chance.”
Rempe sent down
The Rangers sent Matt Rempe to AHL Hartford after the game. He’s played in only two games so far, and the team wants him to get more consistent playing time.
(Photo: Wendell Cruz / Imagn Images)
