Panthers 1 – Rangers 2 (P) | Rangers level the series

For the Rangers, it wouldn’t have been a good idea to go to Florida down 0-2 in this series, so they decided to make sure that didn’t happen.

They took their time, but the Rangers ended up beating the Panthers 2-1, in overtime of the second game of this series against the Panthers Friday night in New York. The third game of the series will be presented Sunday afternoon at Sunrise.

It was Barclay Goodrow who put on the hero’s cape with the winning goal, a very precise shot to the right of goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky, at 14:01 of the extra period. That was the end of the broadcasts.

For the New York club, it looked like a match that should not be lost. Sure, other teams have come from 0-2 down in a series before, but what would have been the odds, really, of going to Florida and hoping for that to happen again? But the Rangers, fortunately for them, are not there.

No doubt sensing the urgency of the situation, Peter Laviolette, the Rangers coach, bet big by making changes to his training.

First, Kaapo Kakko was left out, a first for the young forward since the 2022 Eastern Finals. This pushed Jack Roslovic into Kakko’s spot on the third line, while Filip Chytil earned a promotion to the right of Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad on the club’s first line.

And then, for the many members of the Matt Rempe fan club, let us point out that the big guy was added to the lineup after being left out of his team’s two previous games. His evening of work came down to nine hits, a high among players on both teams, no points, and 10:06 of playing time. We’ll leave it to others to move forward, which he did. a difference in this match.

The Panthers? They gave it their all, as they often do, and now we’ll have to see what they have left in the tank.

Of course, the two teams have played the same number of minutes of play since the start of this Eastern final, but the Panthers’ style, focused on intense forechecking and very physical play, tends to exhaust . Moreover, some members of this team seemed out of breath at the time of overtime, a slight detail that should not be overlooked during subsequent matches, particularly if things drag on.

In front of the net, the two goalkeepers were very solid, and let’s face it, no one could have stopped this shot from Goodrow at the end, except perhaps Patrick Roy in 1986.

So with all that said, we’ve got a series, ladies and gentlemen, and if the first two games are any indication of what’s to come, we should have some fun.