The Final Buzzer: Rangers Vs Panthers Post-Game

Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

Tonight, the Florida Panthers paid the New York Rangers a visit as they looked to snap an eight-game losing streak, while the Rangers looked to continue their dominant play.

In the first period, fans would notice that the game was very wide open. Some people might have forgotten that the Panthers were in town. Florida set New York back on their heels a little bit as they generated quite a bit of offense, but a brilliant play would give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Kreider back-checked into the neutral zone and won the puck, which was then picked up by J.T. Miller, he proceeded to drop it off to Ryan McDonagh, who managed to pull off a nifty toe drag, fed it down back to Kreider, then he passed it over to Miller who finished into an open net. Late in the period, Florida answered on their second powerplay of the game, as Aleksander Barkov would put a rebound past a sprawling Henrik Lundqvist to tie the game at one with 27 seconds to play. The period finished with the scoreline at 1-1. 

The second stanza actually featured the Panthers dictating most of the play. They were able to generate some good offensive chances and would get a gratuitous bounce to make the game 2-1. Defenseman Brian Campbell was credited with the goal. It seemed as if the Rangers forgot they were playing hockey and it looked like there was no flow to the period. In the final seven minutes however, the New York team that we are USED to seeing came back and dominated. They got back to their forecheck and started throwing pucks toward the net. Derek Dorsett eventually picked up the puck down low and took it to the front of the net, he whacked at it two or three times before it finally sneaked through goaltender Tim Thomas. After that, the crowd was back into it and the Rangers played well to close out the second. The period ended with the teams knotted at two a piece.

The Rangers were able to carry over their dominance into the third, as Brad Richards tallied his 6th goal of the season on a snipe past Thomas’ shoulder. The Panthers then got into some penalty trouble and handed New York a five-on-three opportunity. The Rangers wasted no time and Mats Zuccarello put a one-timer past Thomas making it 4-2 almost seven minutes into the final period of play. Florida was able to pick up some momentum after Campbell’s second goal of the game, but the Rangers would clamp down and pick up another two points.

Overall, this was an ugly win for the Rangers and it just goes to show that there are no easy games in the National Hockey League. Florida has dropped their 9th straight game while New York wins their third game in a row and have won seven of their last eight.

Scoring Summary

Metropolitan division standings as of 11/10/13

-Andrew (@a_graz24)