Rangers Shoot Down Panthers

     The Florida Panthers fell to the New York Rangers 5-2 on Wednesday night at BB&T Center. They have lost three of their last four games and are 3-10-2 at home this season. The Rangers are now 12-1-0 when they score first, 7-0-0 leading after one period and 9-0-0 leading after two.
     The Rangers scored on their first power play of the game at 12:13 of the first period. Derek Stepan was in the left circle when he sent a cross-ice pass to Mats Zuccarello in the top right circle. He slap passed the puck to the slot area where Derick Brassard redirected it by Tim Thomas.
     New York(13-12-0) scored again with 1:07 left in the second period and extended their lead to 2-0. Brad Richards brought the puck into the Panthers zone, pivoted to the right side and snapped a shot from the top right circle with a screen in front.
     Florida(7-14-5) tried to mount a comeback during the third period, but the deficit increased. Tom Gilbert attempted to clear the zone with a pass from the slot area. It was intercepted by Rick Nash and he ripped a wrist shot at 5:32 for his second goal this season.
     The Panthers capitalized on a clearing pass by Zuccarello from his own right corner at 12:28. Brad Boyes stopped the puck in the left circle, angled a pass ahead to Scottie Upshall and he lifted a backhand shot over the left shoulder of Henrik Lundqvist. It was Upshall's fifth goal this year and he has picked up a point in five of the last six games.
     There was an avalanche of goals in the last four minutes of the contest. Nick Bjudstad closed the gap to 3-2 with 3:43 remaining in the third with his third tally this season. He picked up a loose puck at center ice, carried it into the Rangers zone, went around Ryan McDonagh and stuffed a shot on the short side from the low slot area.
     The Blueshirts got breathing room on the ensuing power play to make it 4-2. John Moore shot the puck from the blue line that bounced off the back wall to Chris Kreider at the left of the crease. Zuccarello followed the puck in the slot and scored with 1:28 to go.
     Carl Hagelin capped the game with an empty-net goal with 23.1 seconds left. He received a pass just over the red line from McDonagh in his own left corner of the Rangers zone.
     Lundqvist stopped 31 of 33 shots and improved to 8-10-0 while Thomas fell to 6-8-1 as he made 17 saves. New York was 2-for-3 on the man advantage and Florida went scoreless at 0-for-2.