NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Tough guy Matt Rempe added the excitement the Rangers lacked in Game 1 against the defending Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers. Linemate Barclay Goodrow gave New York and its fans something even more important 鈥� an overtime goal.
Goodrow scored 14:01 into the extra period to give the Rangers a 2-1 victory in Game 2 on Friday night, evening the conference final. The fourth-line center has four goals in the postseason, matching his total in 80 regular-season games.
鈥淚t was great, a massive goal. A really clutch goal,鈥� Rangers forward Alexis Lafreniere said. "We were playing good, they were playing good. A tight game. Obviously, we didn鈥檛 like our Game 1. Tonight was a big game and we played well.鈥�
Goodrow fired a snap shot between the circles over goalie Sergei Bobrovsky's right shoulder, sending the Madison Square Garden crowd that had been sitting on edge into a frenzy. It was his second winner in these playoffs, with the other coming against Washington.
鈥淲hen you see someone who does so many other things to help a team be successful, I鈥檓 really happy for a guy like that to make a huge impact in the game tonight,鈥� Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said.
The Rangers really needed this win. Since the league went to conferences in 1967-68, no team has lost the first two games at home and come back to win the conference final.
"You shouldn鈥檛 beat the Presidents' Trophy winner twice in a row, you really shouldn鈥檛,鈥� Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. 鈥淲e got that to overtime. I liked it. We just couldn鈥檛 get it to go. It was two really good goaltenders at each end. It was exciting鈥�
Vincent Trocheck scored early and had the primary assist on Goodrow's goal, while Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves for New York 鈥� six in the overtime
The Rangers made only one lineup change after losing the opener of the best-of-seven series 3-0, and it was the 6-foot-7 Rempe replacing Kaapo Kakko. The crowd loved it and cheered the big guy with every hit. They roared when he was forced to take a faceoff and won it.
鈥淚t was a blast, so much fun," Rempe said.
It wasn't as much fun as the first game for Florida, which had its 11-game postseason overtime winning streak snapped. It dated to Game 3 of the 2021 first round.
Carter Verhaeghe scored a power-play goal for Florida and Bobrovsky made 29 saves. The Panthers lost for only the second time in seven games away from home in the playoffs.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e a really good team,鈥� Verhaeghe said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 expect to win every game. They come out strong. We got a split. We go home and refocus.鈥�
The series shifts to Florida for Games 3 and 4 on Sunday and Tuesday.
The Rangers missed on a good chance earlier in overtime when a rebound of Chris Kreider's shot bounced to Filip Chytil, but his shot toward an open net hit off the rear end of Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and deflected just wide.
The Rangers converted early on Trocheck鈥檚 seventh goal of the playoffs 4:12 after the opening faceoff. The play was set up by a collision between Verhaeghe and Lafreniere and it allowed Adam Fox to find Trocheck for a back-door tap-in.
There was a skirmish after the goal 鈥� one involving Verhaeghe and Lafreniere 鈥� and New York got a power play. The Rangers didn鈥檛 convert on that and another at the 10:04 when Dmitry Kulikov got two minutes for a hit to the head on Alex Wennberg. It was reviewed for a major.
Florida got its first power play late with 2:50 left in the period and Verhaeghe converted from straight on after sidestepping a block attempt by Wennberg.
Both teams hit goalposts in the second period with Wennberg clanging one early on a Rangers power play and Aleksander Barkov hitting one in close late in the second period.
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AP NHL:
Tom Canavan, The Associated Press
