New York will not enjoy an unbeaten season in regulation as the Florida Panthers inflict the first loss of the season on the Blueshirts. A disappointing team effort sees the Rangers fall to 5-1-1 on the year, as they lose ground in the Presidents' Trophy race, but there's plenty of time to make that up later. It's not fun losing, but there's no reason to overreact after the hot start the Blueshirts have enjoyed this season.
A simple dump into the offensive zone would see K'Andre Miller get his stick tied up under the arm of Sam Reinhart. Adam Fox couldn't deal with the loose puck, and Eetu Loustarinen, joining the rush late, was able to punch Reinhart deeper. Reinhart sent it out in front to Anton Lundell, and the Finnish Centerman solves Igor Shesterkin to give the Panthers a lead at MSG. Poor team defense left the Russian shot-stopper isolated a minute into the game.
Two minutes later, the Rangers' issues would strike again. New York failed to clear their zone, but Gustav Forsling was able to keep the puck in. A quick swipe allowed the puck to move to Carter Verhaeghe. Verhaeghe jumps into the left circle and wires a shot up past Shesterkin to make it 2-0 Cats early in the game. New York dug themselves a deep hole early in this one.
Two minutes later, New York cut into the Panthers lead. Alexis Lafreniere rang the puck around the boards to Fox on the far side of the ice. Fox wins a board battle and picks a pass out in front to Lafreniere, and the Quebecois winger beats Sergei Bobrovsky to cut the lead in half. Lafreniere's fourth of the year gets the Rangers back into this game. A dismal start, the Rangers needed to build upon this.
However, that didn't happen, and in the second period, we'd get the final goal of the game. Dmitry Kulikov played a pass across to his defense partner and former New York Ranger Niko Mikkola. Mikkola's blast gets tipped by Sam Bennett, leaving Shesterkin with no shot at the stop. It restored the Panthers' three-goal lead, and New York just couldn't bite into that again. Florida held on for the win.
To rub salt into the wounds, Sergei Bobrovsky broke the record for the fastest netminder to 400 wins, passing Henrik Lundqvist's record. New York couldn't live with the Stanley Cup Champions, and there's a lot to improve if this Rangers team is going to trouble the Cats in the postseason when we get to May.