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New York Rangers Vs Florida Panthers Mid-Series Review

Rangers vs Panthers

In a whirlwind of events, the New York Rangers are up 2-1 over the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Finals. After eight periods of play, and more than half of them dominated by Florida, those resilient Blueshirts are somehow up in the series. Is it because of the resiliency that they possess? Is it the “No Quit In New York” mentality that has had its revival during this playoff run? Call it what you want, this run has the utmost potential to be a magical one. Let’s take a dive into the Rangers vs Panthers series so far.

As soon as Gustav Forsling scored the clincher against the Boston Bruins, we all knew what we were signing up for. If you were to poll a group of hockey writers and media personalities, this would have been a popular option for an Eastern Conference Final. The two teams are well-coached as Paul Maurice and Peter Laviolette are two of the very best. Their fanbases have been waiting for success like this. Both franchises would put an end to lengthy Stanley Cup droughts. No matter who takes it, the Eastern Conference is getting a solid representative.

Having said that, it was looking like Florida was in the driver’s seat since Game One. Their 3-0 victory gave the Rangers a rude awakening after never being down in their first two rounds. Despite the adversity, New York found not one, but two overtime wins and are now in control. Here is a look ahead at what’s to come between these two juggernauts.

Rangers Vs Panthers Series Breakdown

The Panthers Are Just Plain Unlucky

Let us take a look at some of the stats from the first three games of this series. The shot department was fairly even in Game One, with Florida edging New York 27-24. In Game Two, New York flipped the script and outshot Florida 30-27. Sunday afternoon was a total domination from the Panthers who outshot the Blueshirts 37-23. To add onto that, New York had 37 (yes, 37) blocked shots in front of the surging Igor Shesterkin.

After the first homestand in New York, many were concerned that some of the superstars from both teams were quiet. For New York, Artemi Panarin has not scored in over five games, and Mika Zibanejad in seven-plus. For Florida, it was Sam Reinhart, who was due to breakout at any given moment and Sunday was just that. Florida took advantage of New York’s lack of discipline with Reinhart scoring two powerplay goals past Shesterkin. On both goals, he exposed K’Andre Miller who had himself a rough go at it in Game Three.

Florida is more than capable of turning this series around. Although down 2-1, there is still momentum. Game Three’s third period alone proved that they are the team that was advertised. Sure, it is a miracle that New York is up in the series, but they cannot take Florida lightly. There is still at least one more game to be played in Sunrise on Tuesday. Debatable, but Tuesday is a must-win for the Panthers. You cannot let the Rangers get hot and go back to The World’s Most Famous Arena up 3-1, you just cannot. Igor stole one on Sunday, it’s now time for Sergei Bobrovsky to do the same.

How The Heck Did The Rangers Get To Where They Are Now?

As of writing this, people are still processing Sunday’s game. How the heck did the Rangers pull this one off? The final 20 minutes of Game 3 was a clinic from Florida, yet it is New York who is up 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Yes, New York is being outplayed. Yes, New York cannot stop taking penalties for some odd reason. Sure enough, they are just two wins away from going back to their first Stanley Cup Final in 10 years.

Honestly, one reason why New York is where they are is because of their depth scoring. The two overtime heroes are not Panarin and Zibanejad. Rather, they are Barclay Goodrow and Alexander Wennberg: two players just doing their jobs. We mentioned that Florida can turn this series around, yet New York can still put this away. We have yet to see the veterans get goals in this matchup. A Panarin/Zibanejad/Chris Kreider explosion could put this series away quicker than we thought.

New York also has a lineage of goaltenders similar to the Green Bay Packers at the quarterback position. Green Bay went from Bart Starr and Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers. Similarly, New York has gone from Eddie Giacomin and John Davidson, to Mike Richter, Henrik Lundqvist, and now Igor Shesterkin. This performance from Shesterkin has been impressive and will make a case at winning a certain individual trophy if New York can go all the way.

Main photo by: Sam Navarro – USA Today Sports

Jeremy Striano

Jeremy Striano

Jeremy is a lifelong sports fanatic and loves the game of hockey, specifically the New York Rangers. He is a graduate of both The Catholic University of America (Washington, DC) and Syracuse University. Along with hockey, Jeremy enjoys Broadway musicals and trying different beers!

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