Game 4: Reinhart Evens Panthers Up with OT Winner v. Rangers

SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers came into Tuesday night in a must-win situation against the New York Rangers.

For big portions of the opening period, it looked like they were staring down execution.

The Panthers settled in, however, and ended up winning it 3-2 in overtime on a power-play goal from Sam Reinhart.

The best-of-7 series is now tied 2-2 with Game 5 on Thursday in New York.

New York took a 1-0 lead midway through the first when Vincent Trocheck hammered a pass from Artemi Panarin for the Rangers’ first power-play goal of this series.

The Rangers probably could have scored a couple more as the Panthers looked a little tentative but were bailed out by Sergei Bobrovsky.

Florida looked more like itself in the second, only Igor Shesterkin was putting on a master class in goaltending.

The Panthers finally broke through shortly after a power play expired. Sam Bennett drove in with speed and got a quick shot off that Shersterkin stopped. Only the puck dropped to his skates on the edge of the cage and he could not find it.

Bennett, however, did and tied the score at 1.

Not long afterward, Florida got another power play after Blake Wheeler was called for delay. Sasha Barkov fed Matthew Tkachuk who sliced it to Carter Verhaeghe in front — but Shesterkin again stopped the initial shot.

This loose puck bounced off the head of Ryan Lindgren and Verhaeghe deftly choked up on his Louisville Slugger and hammered it home to make it 2-1.

New York tied it in the third, Alexis Lafreniere getting his third goal in the past two games when Florida failed to cover him as he drifted to the net and redirected a feed from Adam Fox.

GOALS OF GAME 4

• Rangers 1, Panthers 0 (8:51, 1st PP): Vincent Trocheck gets a slick feed from Artemi Panarin and one-times it from the top of the slot for New York’s first power-play goal (0-8) of the series.
• Panthers 1, Rangers 1 (10:45, 2nd): Sam Bennett won’t get credit for a power-play goal but he doesn’t care. After bringing the puck through the zone at the end of the man-advantage (Sergei Bobrovsky got the sequence started), Bennett had his shot stopped by Igor Shesterkin. Only the puck dropped to his skate along the goal cage and Bennett jammed it home.
• Panthers 2, Rangers 1 (12:16, 2nd PP): Matthew Tkachuk feeds Carter Verhaeghe in the slot but the puck goes off Shesterkin and d-man Ryan Lindgren’s helmet — and Verhaeghe batted the loose puck out of the air and into the back of the net.
• Rangers 2, Panthers 2 (3:28, 3rd): After an icing, Adam Fox shovels a backhand offering to the front of the net where Alexis Lafreniere is all alone and deflects it past Bobrovsky.
• Panthers 3, Rangers 2 (1:12 OT PP): Sam Reinhart one-times a pass from Barkov from the slot and Florida ties ‘er up.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF GAME 4

1. Sam Reinhart, Florida

2. Igor Shesterkin, New York

3. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL

FLORIDA PANTHERS (ATL1) V. NEW YORK RANGERS (MET1)

GAME 5

• When: Thursday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Madison Square Garden, NYC
• National TV: ESPN
• Streaming: ESPN+/Hulu
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Series Schedule — Game 1: Florida 3, @New York 0; Game 2: @New York 2, Florida 1 OT; Game 3: New York 5, @Florida 4 (OT); Game 4: New York at Florida, Tuesday; Game 5: Florida at New York, Thursday 8 (ESPN); Game 6*: New York at Florida, Saturday 8 (ABC); Game 7*: Florida at New York, Monday 8 (ESPN). (*) — If Necessary.
• How They Got Here: Florida d. Tampa Bay 4-1, Boston 4-2; Rangers d. Washington 4-0, Carolina 4-2.
• Last Season vs. Rangers — Regular Season: Rangers won 3-0
• This Season (Panthers Won 2-1) — At Florida: Panthers 4 Rangers 3 (Dec. 29). At MSG: Panthers 4, Rangers 2 (March 4); Rangers 4, Panthers 3 OT (March 23).
• All-time Regular Season Series: Rangers lead 61-34-8, 6 ties
• Postseason History: Rangers Lead 1-0 (1997 1st)