SUMMARY
After being shut out for only the second time this season in Game 1, the New York Rangers are trying to bounce back in their second duel of their series against the Florida Panthers on Friday night.
Peter Laviolette made a change to his lineup for the second duel. Matt Rempe is back in the lineup after being left out in the last two games. Kaapo Kakko gives way to Rempe in the Rangers lineup.
The Blueshirts couldn’t ask for a better start to the game. After imposing their forecheck, the Rangers took advantage of the hard work of the trio composed of Vincent Trocheck, Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafrenière to open the scoring.
After a good check from Lafrenière, Panarin jumped on a puck and Adam Fox then made a perfect throw to Trocheck, who pushed the puck into a gaping cage. A melee ensued and the Panthers received an additional penalty down the stretch.
We were treated to an extremely physical start to the first period at Madison Square Garden. Dmitry Kulikov received a penalty for a hard hit against Alex Wennberg. Officials reviewed the sequence to see if the action merited a major infraction, but ultimately stuck with their original decision.
The Panthers deployed their massive attack for the first time at the end of the period. The Panthers’ big-time man stood up. Best scorer in the team’s playoff history, Carter Verhaeghe tied the game with a good low shot that beat Igor Shesterkin.
Pre-match notes
The Floridians brought the Blueshirts back to earth on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. They won the game 3-0, limiting the Rangers to just 24 shots on Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Panthers want to sign an eighth consecutive victory in the association final. They swept the Carolina Hurricanes last year and won the final two games of the series against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1996.
“It was only 1-0 for us with three minutes left in the first match. It will be very close again tonight and I believe it will be so throughout the series,” said Panthers head coach Paul Maurice.
New York trails in a series for the very first time since the start of spring ball. Peter Laviolette’s men swept the Washington Capitals in the first round and won the first three games of the series against the Canes before winning the sixth game.
“We have to score,” Rangers forward Filip Chytil said. They have a great team and they have a lot of depth. They have a good goalkeeper. We just have to put pucks on net and when we score one, I think we’ll breathe easier. We need to improve our game compared to our last outing. »
The Rangers lost their last two games at home, which didn’t happen once during the regular season. They went 30-11 at Madison Square Garden.
