Rangers penalty kill falters, Panthers take Game 4 in OT to even series

The Florida Panthers struck back in the Eastern Conference Finals, beating the Rangers, 3-2, Tuesday night in Game 4 on an overtime goal by Sam Reinhart just 72 seconds into the extra period.

The Panthers’ win means they evened the best-of-seven series at two games apiece with the series shifting back to Madison Square Garden for Game 5 on Thursday.

It was the third consecutive game in the series that went to overtime. The Rangers had won the previous two and are now 4-1 in overtime during these playoffs.

Here are the takeaways:

–Blake Wheeler, who was making an inspirational return to the ice from injury, was whistled for hooking with 19:01 left in OT, giving Florida a power play after a poor pass from Mika Zibanejad set the Panthers away on a rush. Thirteen seconds later, Reinhart scored his eighth goal of the playoffs on a shot that hit the crossbar first and went in, giving the Panthers the victory.

–Igor Shesterkin was brilliant again, making 36 saves in a game in which the Panthers had many good chances and were buzzing like crazy in the second and third periods, outshooting the Rangers, 27-10, over that span. At one point in the third, the Rangers went without a shot for about 15 minutes. In two games in Sunrise, the Panthers had 197 shot attempts, 110 more than the Rangers.

-The Rangers trailed by a goal entering the third period, but Alexis Lafrenière tied the score with his seventh goal of the playoffs and third in the last two games. Adam Fox had possession of the puck and got a look at the net off a nifty spin move and fired what could’ve been a pass or a shot toward where Lafrenière was camped out on Sergei Bobrovsky’s right. Lafrenière batted the puck out of the air toward the goal and it hit Bobrovsky’s back and went in for a 2-2 tie.

-After the Rangers had dominated the first period, the Panthers were overwhelming in the second and took a 2-1 lead that would have been bigger had Shesterkin not been, as usual, terrific. The Panthers tied the score at 1 just after their power play expired when Sam Bennett fired a shot that Shesterkin got a piece of, but the puck got behind him near the right post. Bennett appeared nearby and used his stick to jam the puck in between Shesterkin’s skate and the post. The goal came with 11:15 remaining in the period.

-Just over two minutes later, the Panthers got a power play when Barclay Goodrow was called for delay of game and got a pinball goal, of sorts. Matthew Tkachuk sent the puck to the front of the net and it began caroming. At one point, it bounced off Ryan Lindgren and Carter Verhaeghe swatted it out of the air with his stick and into the net. It was Verhaeghe’s ninth goal of the playoffs and his fourth on the power play and it gave Florida a one-goal lead. The Panthers outshot the Rangers, 14-5, in the second.

-The Rangers were terrific in the first period, creating multiple chances and finally cashing in on the power play to take a 1-0 lead. With 12:53 left in the period, Florida’s Anton Lundell was called for high-sticking and near the end of the man advantage, the Rangers scored. Vincent Trocheck won a faceoff in the Panthers zone and got the puck to Fox, who sent it to Artemi Panarin. Panarin fed Trocheck for a one-timer in the middle, just above the circles. The puck hit the crossbar and went in, giving Trocheck a team-best eight goals in these playoffs, including five on the power play.

Only Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (six) has more. It was the first power-play goal of the series for the Rangers, who were 0-for-8 over the first three games and on a 1-for-their-last-18 skid overall.

-The Rangers got another power play later in the period when Florida’s Brandon Montour was sent off for cross-checking with 3:57 left. Zibanejad nearly scored – his shot hit Bobrovsky in the shoulder and then hit the crossbar. It came down just shy of the goal line and bounded away. The Rangers outshot the Panthers, 12-11, in the period. The Panthers had four shots on goal during their lone power play in the first and Shesterkin stopped them.

-Shesterkin made a whole highlight reel’s worth of saves in this game, including in the second period when he emerged from the net and sprawled to stop a shot. He believed the puck was secure underneath him. It was not. It was poked loose, but Shesterkin got back into position to make another save.

Later in the period, he stoned Verhaeghe on an odd-man rush and, with 1:50 left in the second, Aleksander Barkov came in alone on the rush and tried a backhand, but Shesterkin scooted across the crease to block it. Early in the third, the goalie used his right pad to kick away a shot by former Ranger Vladimir Tarasenko and later used the same pad to stop Kyle Okposo’s backhand in front.

-The Rangers activated Wheeler, who had not played since suffering a right leg injury on Feb. 15 that required surgery that most figured would end his season. The 37-year-old Wheeler, who had nine goals and 12 assists in 54 games before the injury, took his first shift Tuesday just over two minutes into the game and skated on the fourth line.

Filip Chytil was scratched from the lineup and the Rangers moved Jack Roslovic back up to the first line at right wing with Kreider and Zibanejad, where Chytil had been playing.

Who’s the MVP? Sam Reinhart

The Florida forward, who scored 57 goals during the regular season to finish second in the NHL and lead the league with 27 power-play goals, had a huge moment with his OT winner.

What’s next

With the series level, the two teams head to Madison Square Garden for a huge Game 5 on Thursday night with an 8 p.m. puck drop.