SUNRISE, Fla. — The Rangers still played more defense than they probably would’ve liked in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Final series against the Panthers, but it wasn’t nearly as much as the previous two games.
With the puck on their stick more often, the Blueshirts didn’t fall under siege and were able to manage the flow of the game a lot better.
Though Florida is still showing a distinct advantage in the quality of their scoring chances, after holding an 18-7 edge in high-danger chances on Thursday to bolster what is now a 63-34 advantage in the category for the series.
“To me, it resembled the first two games here,” Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette said. “It’s a game that’s going back and forth, that’s the way the first two games went. What we needed to do was try and eliminate some of that we were spending in the defensive zone and I thought we were able to do that [in Game 5]. We were able to get it, get out, there were only a couple shifts through the course of the game where they did that.
“They caught us off the rush a couple times, they caught us a couple times off of our breakouts, where they got a couple guys in behind us. Those were some of the big chances, those were the goals and some of the big chances.”
According to NHL Edge, the Rangers have spent 43 percent of ice time in the defensive zone this postseason, while the Panthers have spent just 38.3 percent.
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There’s no question the drastic unevenness of this series has also reflected in Florida’s 43.8 percent of their games in the offensive zone.
The Rangers’ 27 shots on goal in Game 5 represented the second most they have posted in this series, behind only the 30 they put up in Game 2 to even the series at one win apiece.
“We had some shifts in the third, but when they score, I think it just becomes a little bit more desperation and try to push,” Mika Zibanejad said. “But I thought in the first and the second, a little up and down, obviously they had a little bit of momentum. I thought we did a better job of just taking what they gave us, really.”
On the road this postseason, entering Game 6 Saturday night, the Blueshirts carry a 5-2 away record into the contest.
It marks the seventh time in franchise history that the team has won five or more road games in a single playoff year.
The 1994 team set the record of seven.