Uncharacteristic mistakes cost Panthers in 1st regulation loss. ‘We got what we deserved’
The Florida Panthers do not care about their 54-shot edge in shot attempts or their 27-shot advantage in shots on goal against the New York Rangers on Monday. It did not matter how well they played in 5-on-5 action or how often they tested Igor Shesterkin. They could only take so much solace in their nearly miraculous comeback bid after they trailed by four at the start of the third period.
No, those numbers and that effort didn’t matter. The Panthers lost 4-3 to the Rangers in New York for their first regulation loss of the season and a bounty of garish — and, quite frankly, uncharacteristic — mistakes cost them.
“We got what we deserved tonight,” interim coach Andrew Brunette said.
Florida (10-1-1) gave up a power-play goal and a short-handed goal in the first, and a 4-on-4 goal in the third. The Panthers fell behind 4-0 on a series of defensive gaffes and costly turnovers, and they still trailed 4-1 in the final 90 seconds before scoring twice in a minute to briefly spook the 14,877 in attendance at Madison Square Garden.
Florida outshot New York, 45-18, and finished with a 91-37 edge in shot attempts and a 53-22 advantage in scoring chances, but 11 of the Rangers’ 18 shots were high-danger chances and they put four of them past rookie goaltender Spencer Knight.
The Panthers, for the second straight season, were the last team to lose a game in regulation. The best season-opening points streak in franchise history, though, came to an end because Florida played its sloppiest game of the season.
“It’s a game of mistakes,” defenseman Radko Gudas said. “We did a lot of them today.”
On the first goal, Chris Kreider poked home a rebound on a power play after the Panthers lost track of the New York winger alone in front of the net. On the second, The Rangers (7-3-3) were shorthanded and too many Florida skaters followed New York forward Barclay Goodrow down the boards, leaving star defenseman Adam Fox wide open in the slot for an easy goal.
Between the two first-period goals, the Rangers went more than 12 minutes without a shot on goal.
Their third goal came in 4-on-4 action when New York defenseman K’Andre Miller blew by Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar and finished in close against Knight with 7:12 left in the second. Their fourth came 30 seconds later when Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba intercepted a pass in the neutral zone to trigger a 3-on-2 rush, which New York forward Ryan Strome finished for a 4-0 lead.
The Rangers even had a fifth goal wiped away because of goaltender interference, but it came on an odd-man rush off a neutral-zone turnover, too.
“The mistakes that we made are very correctable,” Brunette said, “but those are mistakes that really hurt you.”
Superstar center Aleksander Barkov, who returned to the top line Monday after missing the last game with a lower-body injury, was on the ice for two of New York’s goals and star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau for three. Knight, starting a second straight game with fellow goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky sidelined by an upper-body injury, posted a save percentage worse than .860 for the first time in his young career. Florida’s penalty kill, which entered the day as the third stingiest in the league, put the Panthers in their 1-0 hole with 12:08 left in the first period by giving up a power-play goal.
Florida, which made an identity around its penchant for comebacks last season and rallied for a win the only other time it faced a two-goal deficit this season, still nearly pulled off a miracle Monday. Center Eetu Luostarinen scored 20 seconds into the third period, then right wings Sam Reinhart and Patric Hornqvist both scored in the final 90 seconds to cut the Rangers’ lead to 4-3 with 39.2 seconds left.
By then, too many mistakes had added up, though. It was inevitable the Panthers were going to lose sometime this year. The one positive takeaway they did offer up postgame is they get to play again in less than 24 hours. Far more often than not this season, a chance to play has ended well.
We have been feeling it a lot lately lately,” Reinhart said. “We’re going to have those odd nights and we’ve got to learn to execute better.”
Up next
The Panthers will get a quick chance to bounce back from their first regulation loss of the season and they won’t have to go far. Florida will face the New Jersey Devils at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
There’s a chance Bobrovsky could return to face the Devils (5-3-2) as he was a “game-time decision” for Monday, interim coach Andrew Brunette said. Left wing Mason Marchment’s status is not yet known after he left the game Monday in the third period when he crashed hard into the boards.
This story was originally published November 8, 2021 at 9:44 PM.
