Stanley Cup Playoffs: Panthers scrap and claw but Rangers take Game 3 in overtime
SUNRISE — Alex Wennberg scored the overtime winner 5:35 into the frame, deflecting a Ryan Lindgren shot to give the New York Rangers a 5-4 win over the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final. New York leads the series 2-1.
It marked the second straight overtime loss for the Panthers after they dominated stretches of both Games 2 and 3, including a two-goal comeback in the third period on Sunday. They just fell short yet again.
“Sometimes you want to keep the growl,” coach Paul Maurice said. “Sometimes in the playoffs, it’s making sure that you keep that energy and you cut off your losses and you let it go. Then there’s times when you want to keep it and eat it but let it burn for a while and find a different kind of energy source. So you put up whatever we put up tonight and you don’t come away with the win, you should do a little growling.”
Sam Reinhart scored twice on the power play — once to give Florida the lead and once to tie the game up after Alexis Lafreniere and Barclay Goodrow answered back — but the end of the second period proved to be a house of horrors for the Panthers.
Lafreniere gave the Rangers the lead with a highlight-reel goal with 4:37 to go in the frame. The Panthers went to a four-minute power play after Jacob Trouba elbowed Evan Rodrigues in the neck on a delayed penalty for his own slash, but it was Goodrow who scored a shorthanded goal for the Rangers to give them a two-goal lead.
Rodrigues stayed in the game following the controversial hit and the Panthers fought back in the third period. Gustav Forsling and Aleksander Barkov scored in the first seven minutes of the period and the Panthers applied the pressure for the rest of it to force overtime.
Igor Shesterkin kept the Rangers in it during the third period, making 10 saves on the 12 shots he faced with a lot of them coming on high-quality opportunities.
“We were down 4-2, we came back and we were all pumped up and excited,” Barkov said. “There were some good things in the game for sure that we can take away for the next game.”
New York weathered the storm and did more with fewer chances in overtime.
Here are three takeaways from Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final:
New-look lines spark Panthers in the third period
Maurice shook up his lines at 5-on-5 to start the third period after his team went cold at even strength in the first 40 minutes, and it immediately paid off.
The new-look second line with Rodrigues next to Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk cashed in first when Rodrigues set up Forsling early in the third period. Carter Verhaeghe, who used to be on the left flank of that line, set up Barkov for his goal less than two minutes later to tie the game.
From there, the Panthers pounced on the Rangers and controlled play for most of the frame. At 5-on-5, Florida outshot New York 10-4, led 14-3 in scoring chances and 7-1 in high-danger chances.
”I just wanted to get a different look with different players,” Maurice said. “We wanted to find the guys that were going partway through the game and sometimes you got to pull them together. When we flipped Verhaeghe with Barkov over the years, it was us looking for a little jump and speed on that line. We had some guys who were going and we wanted to give them a better chance.”
Penalty killing continues to be a strength for the Panthers
Florida’s penalty kill continued to come up big in huge moments, going 2-for-2 on the day and 8-for-8 overall in the series.
It’s been more of the same as the first two games. They’ve been aggressive on the puck and in passing lanes and it has frustrated the Rangers into making the wrong decision time and time again.
Anton Lundell pitched in on both of the penalty kills in Game 3 with big-minute PK centermen Barkov and Kevin Stenlund serving the two penalties and he did more of the same. The 22-year-old was a hound on the puck and stepped up big time.
Reinhart snaps out of cold streak
After being held without a point in five of his past six games, Florida’s 50-goal scorer snapped out of his slump.
Reinhart scored two goals on the power play to help keep the Panthers in the game early on — and both of them were beauties. The theme with both? He forced his will into the slot and beat Shesterkin with a slick backhand shot.
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
Eastern Conference Finals
Rangers at Panthers, Game 4 (New York leads 2-1)
Tuesday, 8 p.m., ESPN
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Stanley Cup Playoffs NHL Panthers Rangers overtime
