NEW YORK (NY) – The New York Rangers eight game home win streak came to an end Tuesday night to the tune of a 5-4 loss to the Florida Panthers. The win was the Panthers second in two nights after beating the New Jersey Devils the night before.
New York would pull Henrik Lundqvist after going down 3-0 in the first period on six shots off the sticks of Aleksander Barkov, Jamie McGinn and Michael Haley. He was replaced by Ondrej Pavelec.
The Rangers finally figured out James Reimer four minutes into the second when J.T. Miller notched his fourth of the year after a broken up shot found its way from the blue line and he was able to jam it home.
The Panthers answered 4:32 later when Jonathan Huberdeau scored his eighth of the year.
Now down 4-1, New York drastically increased their forecheck and added much needed pressure to Reimer and the Panthers defense. The added pressure proved rewarding when Pavel Buchnevich and Chris Kreider found the back of the net within two minutes to cut the lead to 4-3.
Moments later, Kevin Hayes nearly tied the game after circling in the offensive zone, taking it to the net on the left side, transferring it to his forehand and getting a quick shot past Reimer in the net. The goal was waved off on a questionable goaltender interference from Rick Nash. After seeing the replay, head coach Alain Vigneault decided to use his coach’s challenge. The play would stand and the Rangers went into the third period down 4-3.
With Mika Zibenajad out with an upper-body injury, the top line of Kreider and Buchnevich would be centered by recently healthy-scratched David Desharnais. They proved to be the most productive, reliable line all night, notching nine points. Their last points of the night came off a beautiful feed from Desharnais with 6:32 remaining in the game to a wide open Kreider in front who tapped it in.
With 1:06 remaining in the game, the Panthers shot down any notion that this comeback would give the Rangers a much earned point. After a brutal blocked shot from the point by Brendan Smith, the puck found it’s way to Denis Malgin whose slapshot beat Pavelec for the game winner.
“I wasn’t able to come up with one extra save” Pavelec mentioned post game. “It’s disappointing because we battled back and we deserved at least a point”.
Zibanejad participated in the morning skate and warmups, but bowed out last minute after deciding he wasn’t fit to go. He is day-to-day.
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