In New York, you could be forgiven for feeling anxious as the Rangers hosted the Florida Panthers and their juggernaut of offensive unit.
After a 1-1 tie through 20 minutes of play, the Rangers fell behind 1-2 to the Panthers.
Contrary to form, the Rangers regrouped and scored four unanswered goals including three off the power to beat the Panthers, 5-2, on Tuesday night.
The Rangers are off until Fe, 15.
“Personally, I think we need it,” New York head coach Gerard Gallant said of the break. “We played so many games on the road (26), played 47 games, second most in the league. I don’t mind it. The good part about the (All-Star) break is we’re coming back and we’ve got four great days to practice before we play our first game. We’ll practice on the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th and we play on the 15th. Those are four good days.”
Chris Kreider continued his assault on the scoresheet with two power play strikes.
“Having a power play that can capitalize on them taking penalties, and potentially taking the kind of penalties that they’re trying to send a message that they’re not going to be bullied, it backs them off and makes them think twice about doing those things,” Kreider said.
Artemi Panarin added a third power play goal into an empty net.
Igor Shesterkin made 34 saves in the New York win, he also help set Kreider’s go ahead goal.
“Igor is just an outlier in terms of playing the puck, having that element,” Kreider said. “I mean, I’ve never had that before. I think it’s easier on the defensemen. It certainly helps in a situation like that. He’s probably a better passer and has better hands than I do. It adds a ton of value to the team.”
The Rangers improved to 30-13-4.
Sam Reinhart and Anthony Duclair scored to give Florida a 2-1 lead in the game.
“I think for the most part we’ve played really well,” Florida head coach Andrew Brunette said. “We had a lot of hockey and a lot of travel and we’re starting to run on fumes here a little bit tonight. But our guys have done an unbelievable job of bringing energy night in and night out. It’s been a tough month, and it’s a well-deserved little break and refresh for them, and [we’ll] get back going in about 10 days or two weeks.”
The Panthers fell to 32-10-5.
The Rangers’ rally started with Alexis Lafreniere’s goal in the middle frame to get the game tied, 2-2.
“It’s typical of being invested on the forecheck and they turn the puck over,” Gallant said. “That was definitely a big part of the game.”
Mika Zibanejad opened the scoring for the Rangers when his pass to Ryan Reaves down low deflected in off a Panthers stick for a 1-0 lad.
“We’re trying to get to a point where we play a full 60 minutes,” Zibanejad said. “Obviously it wasn’t our best first period, but still, that’s a good team, and you’re going to have times during a game when the other team has momentum and you’ve just got to try to ride it out and get the momentum back to your side. I thought that’s what we did today.”
Spencer Knight made 29 saves in the Florida loss.
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