NEW YORK (AP) — Artemi Panarin scored twice in regulation and added the decisive goal in the shootout, Igor Shesterkin…
NEW YORK (AP) — Artemi Panarin scored twice in regulation and added the decisive goal in the shootout, Igor Shesterkin made 27 saves and the New York Rangers rallied to beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 on Saturday night.
Carter Verhaeghe put the Panthers ahead 3-2 with his 31st goal at 15:52 of the third but Panarin knotted the contest at 16:35 with his second of the game and team-leading 43rd of the season. He has five goals in his last two games.
Matthew Tkachuk and Eetu Luostarinen also scored for the Panthers, who lost their fourth straight game.
Adam Fox also scored for the Rangers and Vincent Trocheck had three assists.
During the shootout, Panarin beat Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky with a high shot. Mika Zibanejad also scored for the Rangers and Sam Reinhart scored for Florida. Shesterkin denied former Ranger Vladimir Tarasenko to cement the victory for the Rangers, who moved ahead of the Boston Bruins for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins lost to Philadelphia 3-2 on Saturday.
Bobrovsky finished with 34 saves.
The Rangers have won six of their last nine games against the Panthers and are 6-1-1 in their last eight home games against Florida. New York improved to 25-9-0 overall at home.
Tkachuk opened the scoring at 8:18 of the first, tipping Josh Mahura’s shot past Shesterkin. Luostarinen made it 2-0 just 21 seconds into the second on a setup by Reinhart, who leads the Panthers with 80 points.
Fox narrowed the deficit on the power play at 6:22 of the second before Panarin scored at 8:23 of the middle period from a sharp angle to tie the game at 2.
Panarin had a hat trick in Thursday’s 5-2 win at Boston and has 99 points this season. The 32-year-old Russian forward is trying to become the first Ranger to reach 100 points since Jaromir Jagr in 2005-06 and the seventh to reach the milestone.
Rangers rookie forward Matt Rempe played his first home game since March 11, when he was tossed from a 3-1 win over New Jersey after a high elbow on Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler. Rempe was suspended four games by the league for the hit.
Florida captain Aleksander Barkov missed the contest as did defensemen Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling and Dmitry Kulikov.
UP NEXT:
Rangers: Hosting Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
Panthers: Visiting Philadelphia on Sunday night.
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