Florida Panthers return to ice and use third-period rally to beat New York Rangers
Could it have played out any other way?
The Florida Panthers on Wednesday played their first game in nearly two weeks after being shut down due to a COVID-19 outbreak — one that sidelined seven players at that point (not to mention the group that was already out at the time due to injury).
They were back at full strength when they faced the New York Rangers at FLA Live Arena.
And back to their comeback ways.
The Panthers erased two one-goal deficits and took the lead for good midway through the third period.
Final score: Panthers 4, Rangers 3.
“Comeback Cats,” defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said. “I guess it’s just the thing that we do.”
The win snapped a three-game losing streak.
And, the Panthers hope, it gives them some momentum and helps them return to their winning ways from earlier this season. They have the man power now with their entire core healthy. Aleksander Barkov is back and missing 13 of the team’s previous 14 games. Only one player is in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol, defenseman Olli Juolevi.
What remained constant: Their confidence that they can win any game regardless of their deficit.
That showed up again Wednesday.
The latest rally of the season started with Weegar, who scored his first goal of the season with a slap shot from the right circle less than 20 seconds after a Panthers power play ended to make the score 2-2 with 14:04 left in regulation.
“It was definitely a real relieving moment,” Weegar said of his goal, “and obviously it came at a good time.”
Four-and-a-half minutes later, Florida (19-7-4) had its first lead of the game when Carter Verhaeghe took a pass from Radko Gudas, stormed down the left boards and sent a wrist shot past Igor Shesterkin to make it 3-2.
Anthony Duclair scored his 10th goal of the season with 5:20 left in regulation to give the Panthers a two-goal cushion — which was needed because the Rangers cut the deficit back to one with 44.4 seconds left on a Chris Kreider goal with an extra skater on the ice.
The Panthers outshot the Rangers 11-3 in five-on-five situations in the third period and kept a steady dose of pressure on New York over the final 20 minutes of regulation.
“In the third period,” interim coach Andrew Brunette said, “we dug deeper.”
And they needed to after falling behind after two periods.
Artemi Panarin was integral in both of the Rangers’ first two goals. He opened scoring midway through the first period when he beat Aaron Ekblad by slipping the puck between his legs before unleashing a backhanded shot that went under Sergei Bobrovsky’s pads.
One period later, Panarin forced a turnover when Radko Gudas was trying to exit the defensive zone on the boards, turned around and sent a pass to Mika Zibanejad, who poked the puck past Bobrovsky to make it 2-1 with 7:17 left in the second period.
Anton Lundell broke up the shutout between those two Rangers goals when he corralled a rebound in front of the net and sent a snap shot from the slot past Shesterkin to tie the game 1-1 with 14:51 left in the second period.
And then the Florida Panthers rallied again in the third period.
The Rangers are now 19-8-4 on the season.
Next up
The Panthers continue their four-game homestand on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. After that, it’s a Saturday afternoon game against the Montreal Canadiens before wrapping up on Tuesday against the Calgary Flames.
This story was originally published December 29, 2021 at 9:43 PM.
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