The Florida Panthers kicked off game 1 of the 2024 NHL Eastern Conference Finals with a 3-0 road victory over the top seeded New York Rangers.
Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett and New York Rangers center Barclay Goodrow battle for the puck in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Florida Panthers and New York Rangers began the Eastern Conference in New New York City, and unfortunately, despite the home cooking, the Rangers lacked the magic of the ‘94 team in game 1 (more on that here https://www.respectmyregion.com/1994-year-of-the-garden-knicks-and-rangers/ ).
The Panthers proved why they’ve been arguably the hottest team in the NHL for the past two months, playing aggressive offense and suffocating defense, to protect leads, a play style The Rangers themselves tend to implement well.
Rangers center Mika Zibanejed won the opening faceoff, as the Madison Square Garden crowd erupted for their beloved New York Rangers.
Both teams were pretty even throughout the first period, as advertised.
The Florida Panthers took the lead after left winger Matthew Tkachuk scored his 5th goal of the 2024 postseason 16 minutes into the game, with defenseman Gustav Forsling and center Carter Verhaeghe assisting, both of whom got their 6th assist of the postseason.
Florida Panthers Highlights
Nothing of real note took place in the first period following this goal, as both teams headed to their locker rooms, with the third seeded Florida Panthers ahead 1-0.
The second period was largely uneventful,
Again Zibanejad won the opening face off and again The Rangers couldn’t get anything going offensively.
The poor result wasn’t for a lack of trying, The Rangers did put together a flurry of shots in the first minute of the period, you can’t always score.
The Florida Panthers held the line and finished the period unscathed, preventing all 16 Rangers shots from scoring.
However, Florida could not extend their lead, going 0/16 on their own shot attempts.
The third period is what ultimately sealed the game for The Panthers.
With just under 4 minutes left in regulation, the Panthers scored once more, in shocking fashion. Rangers left winger, Alexis Lafreniere scored an own goal on goalie Igor Shesterkin.
Verhaeghe was credited with the goal under a technicality, he was the last Panther to touch the puck, therefore he picked up his 7th goal of this postseason run and the 22nd of his postseason career.
A lot of fans were mad at Lafreniere for the goal, but if you watch it, you could see more guilt should rest on the shoulders of the goaltender, Shesterkin.
Shesterkin tried to clear the puck, but failed, practically handing Verhaeghe the biscuit on a silver platter.
It is also important to mention that The Rangers seemed to inexplicably perform a line change mid play.
The whole thing was a mess, Lafreniere tried to tip the puck out after Verhaeghe shot it, he tried arguably the only high iq thing on the entire play for The Rangers.
The rest of the game felt like a formality, The Rangers pulled Shesterkin almost immediately following the goal.
Panthers center Sam Bennett scored an empty netter, 18:41 into the period, which was his 3rd goal of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Tkachuk assisted on the goal which was his 11th of the postseason.
Game 1 Takeaways For The Panthers And Rangers
I have many thoughts on game 1.
First there’s still plenty of hockey left in the series, it is a best of seven, so calm down Rangers fans.
Second, if The Rangers want to win games they are going to have to take care of the puck more. They had 12 giveaways, which is the equivalent of turnovers in the NBA or NFL.
12 giveaways are way too many, Florida had 2, not in a period, not in a single power play, but for the entire game.
Meanwhile The Rangers had 6 takeaways to the Panthers 2, so it really was mostly sloppiness, a level of sloppiness clearly displayed on the Lafreniere self goal.
Third, both goalies played extremely well. Sergei Bobrovsky got his 1st shutout of this postseason run, and the second of his playoff career, both of which coming from his time with the Panthers (his first was last year against the Carolina Hurricanes on May 22nd).
Bobrovsky got 23 saves, while Shesterkin had 25 saves, and only 2 goals allowed.
Fourth The Rangers need to try and shoot more, it’s way easier said than done but this Panthers team is just too good to try and luck into a goal against, New York needs to control the game and set the tone.
As for The Panthers they need to keep playing their brand of hockey, it may not be the most exciting, but it does win games, take an early lead and smother with defense.
I’m curious about how game 2 is going to go, can The Rangers bounce back? Are the Florida Panthers really the unstoppable juggernaut they have appeared to be throughout the playoffs?
I’m not sure about the answers to these questions, what I do know is that dropping both games at home to begin the series would likely be a death sentence for The New York Rangers.
To stay up to date with the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals, check out https://www.respectmyregion.com/.
