Rangers Skate By Panthers

     The Florida Panthers played their first game of the 2023 calendar year and were defeated by the New York Rangers 5-3 at FLA Live Arena on Sunday. The Panthers will conclude their short two-game homestand on Tuesday versus the Arizona Coyotes. 

     New York (20-12-6) got out to 1-0 lead one second into a power play following a four-on-four situation with 5:24 left in the first period. Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin made passes in the neutral zone. Mika Zibanejad raced through the middle of the ice, through to slot area and slid a wrist shot past Sergei Bobrovsky for his 17th goal of the season. 

     In the second period, the Rangers increased it to 2-0 with 9:30 left. Branden Schneider pushed the puck from the right corner. Kaapo Kakko centered it from the end wall and Zibanejad powered a one-time slap shot from the right circle for his second tally of the contest and 18th goal of the campaign. 

     Florida(16-18-4) cut it to 2-1 with 6:03 to go in the second. Josh Mahura scooted a pass from the high slot. Eric Staal made a square pass and Nick Cousins snapped a shot from the right circle by Jaroslav Halak for his fourth goal this season. 

     The Blueshirts regained a two-goal margin with 4:16 remaining in the period as Chris Kreider released a slap shot from the slot area for his 17th goal of the season. Kakko and Fox were credited with assists on the play. 

     The Panthers picked up a power-play goal with 57.1 seconds left and trailed 3-2. Gustav Forsling angled a pass from the top of the zone. Carter Verhaeghe fired a one-time slap shot from the right circle which was saved. Sam Bennett put in the rebound from the low left circle with a snap shot for his eighth goal of the campaign. 

     New York added another goal with the man advantage at the 1:38 mark of the third period for a 4-2 lead. Kreider connected a diagonal pass from the left circle and former Florida Panthers Vincent Trocheck guided the puck into the cage from the right of the crease for his 13th goal with his new team. 

     The Cats answered back just at 2:53 and were down 4-3. Staal shot the puck from the inner right circle for his fourth goal in a Panthers uniform. 

     It became 5-3 for the Rangers with 9:56 left in the third. Panarin attempted a pass across the slot and it bounced off a Panthers defender. He followed up with a wrist shot from the slot area for his 10th goal this season.