NEW YORK — Tough Matt Rempe added the excitement the Rangers lacked in Game 1 against the defending Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers. Linemate Barclay Goodrow gave New York and its fans something even more important – an overtime goal.
Goodrow scored 14:01 into the extra period to give the Rangers a 2-1 victory in Game 2 on Friday night, the night of the conference final. The fourth-line center scored four goals in the postseason, matching his total in 80 regular-season games.
“It was great, a huge goal. A really decisive goal,” said Rangers forward Alexis Lafreniere. “We were playing well, they were playing well. A close game. Obviously, we didn’t like our Game 1. Tonight was a great game and we played well.”
Goodrow fired a quick shot between the circles, over goalie Sergei Bobrovsky’s right shoulder, sending the nervous Madison Square Garden crowd into a frenzy. It was their second victory in these playoffs, the other being against Washington.
“When you see someone who does so many other things to help a team be successful, I’m really happy that a guy like that made a big impact on the game tonight,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said.
The Rangers really needed this win. Since the league went conference in 1967-68, no team has lost its first two home games and come back to win the conference final.
“You shouldn’t beat the Presidents’ Trophy winner twice in a row, you really shouldn’t,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We took it to overtime. There were two very good goalkeepers at each end. It was exciting”.
Vincent Trocheck scored early and provided the primary assist on Goodrow’s goal, while Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves for New York – six in overtime
The Rangers made just one lineup change after losing the first game of the best-of-seven series 3-0, and that was the 6-foot-2 Rempe replacing Kaapo Kakko. The crowd loved it and applauded the big man with each blow. They roared when he was forced to face each other and won.
“It was amazing, so much fun,” Rempe said.
It wasn’t as entertaining as the first game for Florida, which had its 11-game overtime postseason winning streak snapped. It dated from game 3 of the first round of 2021.
Carter Verhaeghe scored a power play goal for Florida and Bobrovsky made 29 saves. The Panthers lost for just the second time in seven road playoff games.
“They are a very good team,” Verhaeghe said. “We didn’t expect to win every game. They come out strong. We broke up. Let’s go home and focus again.
The series moves to Florida for Games 3 and 4 on Sunday and Tuesday.
The Rangers missed a good chance early in overtime when a rebound of Chris Kreider’s shot went to Filip Chytil, but his shot toward the open net hit the back of Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and deflected wide.
The Rangers converted early on Trocheck’s seventh goal of the playoffs, 4:12 after the opening faceoff. The play was set up by a collision between Verhaeghe and Lafreniere and allowed Adam Fox to find Trocheck for a backdoor hit.
There was a skirmish after the goal – involving Verhaeghe and Lafreniere – and New York had a power play. The Rangers didn’t convert that and another at 10:04 when Dmitry Kulikov scored two minutes in by hitting Alex Wennberg in the head. It was revised to a major.
Florida got its first power play late with 2:50 left in the period, and Verhaeghe converted immediately after avoiding a block attempt by Wennberg.
Both teams hit the posts in the second period, with Wennberg scoring a goal early on a Rangers power play and Aleksander Barkov scoring late in the second period.
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