The Rangers and Panthers Eastern Conference Final series through four games has been a nailbitter.
Game 5 wasn’t any different between the two teams.
Anton Lundell‘s wrist shot goal in the third period and Sam Bennett‘s late third-period empty-net goal was the difference and helped the Panthers defeat the Rangers 3-2. Florida now leads the Eastern Conference Final 3-2 and can close the series out at home on Saturday at home.
Chris Kreider scored a shorthanded goal for the Rangers in the second period. Florida defenseman Gustav Forsling also registered a second-period goal.
Alexis Lafrenière scored a goal with 50 seconds left, but the Panthers still came away with the 3-2 win.
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin stopped 31 of 33 shots. Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 23 saves.
Less than five minutes into the start of the game, the Rangers went on the power play after Eetu Luostarinen was penalized for slashing. However, the Blueshirts were unable to register a goal.
Florida went on its first power play 14:36 into the first period after K’Andre Miller was called for roughing. The Rangers killed off the penalty after the Panthers had just one shot on goal during the two minutes Miller was in the box.
The Rangers had some scoring opportunities early in the first period. With under three minutes left in the period, they had three point-blank opportunities to take the lead, but Bobrovsky turned them all away.
The game remained scoreless after 20 minutes. Florida registered eight shots in the first period, while the Blueshirt finished with 11.
Just 42 seconds into the second period, Miller committed his second penalty of the night after tripping Carter Verhaeghe. But that didn’t stop the Rangers from finding the net after Kreider intercepted Matthew Tkachuk and scored the goal after a pass from Mika Zibanejad. Kreider’s goal injected life into the Madison Square Garden crowd.
The goal was Kreider’s third career shorthanded playoff goal and the sixth by the Rangers during this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. His three goals tied Mark Messier for the most in franchise history.
At 3:43 in the second period, the Rangers had their second power play after Kyle Okposo was called for tripping. Less than a minute after that (4:22), Niko Mikkola ran into Shesterkin and was called for goalie interference. Rangers defenseman Erik Gustafsson was also called for roughing.
Florida finally responded in the second period with its first goal. Forsling skated past Alexis Lafrenière and scored on a backhanded shot to tie the game 1-1.
After their game-tying goal, the Panthers went on a power play 43 seconds (9:04). Jacob Trouba was called for holding the stick, but Florida failed to capitalize on the extra man advantage.
The game remained tied after two periods. The last three games went into overtime, with the Rangers winning Games 2 and 3 while the Panthers won Game 4.
With the game still tied 1-1, the Rangers had a 5-on-4 advantage after Niko Mikkola committed a tripping penalty. They recorded four shots but couldn’t find the net on the power play.
Lundell gave Florida a 2-1 at 10:22 after his wrist shot got past Shesterkin and the arena became very quieter. Late in the third period, Shesterkin came off the ice to give the Rangers an extra attacker down 2-1. However, Bennett scored an empty-net goal with 1:52 left and the Ranger fans began heading for the exits.
However, Lafrenière cut the Rangers deficit to 3-2 with 50 seconds left. But the Panthers held on for the victory.
Filip Chytil returned to the lineup Thursday night. He sat out the Rangers’ Game 4 overtime loss Tuesday night after Jack Roslovic started Game 4 at right wing with Zibanejad and Kreider.
Chytil returned to the Rangers in the second round against Carolina after missing 78 consecutive games due to a concussion. In 10 regular season games, Chytil recorded six points.
The two teams will return to Sunrise, Fla., to play Game 6 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday night. The puck is scheduled to drop at 8 p.m.
