The Panthers had to avoid a third straight defeat in the Eastern Conference final at all costs to maintain hope of participating in the Stanley Cup final for a second straight season. They can say mission accomplished.
Sam Reinhart was the man of the situation for the Panthers, scoring in overtime in a 3-2 victory against the New York Rangers on Tuesday. The local favorites thus tied the series 2-2.
Reinhart threaded the needle on a power play at 1:12 of the overtime period while Blake Wheeler was in the penalty box. Wheeler was returning to action after a broken right leg that kept him sidelined for more than three months.
Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe also moved the ropes for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky blocked 21 shots in front of his fans.
Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafrenière made the red light shine for the Rangers, whose last Stanley Cup conquest dates back to 1994. Igor Shesterkin blocked 37 shots.
Lafrenière alongside Kovalev
Trocheck took advantage of his team’s first power play to take a one-timer and score his eighth of the series at 8:51 of the first period. Bobrovsky was unable to keep his eyes off Artemi Panarin’s pass due to traffic in front of his semicircle.
Bennett then surprised Shesterkin by recovering his own rebound to throw the puck off the goalie’s skate. It ricocheted and crossed the goal line at 8:45 of the second period.
Verhaeghe gave the local favorites the lead on a power play at 12:16 of the second period. After making a shot, he hit the puck in flight to score his ninth goal of the spring tournament.
It was a sixth point in four games in this series for the Panthers forward.
Lafrenière brought the two teams back to an equal footing at 3:28 of the third period. Well placed at the mouth of the net, he redirected a pass from Adam Fox into the back of the net.
He became the fifth player under 22 in Rangers history to score seven times in the playoffs in the same year after Alex Kovalev, Filip Chytil, Don Maloney and Don Murdoch.