Florida Panthers Hit the Road for Playoffs, Lose to Rangers

SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers do not have anything to play for in their final regular season game Tuesday after allowing the eliminated Rangers to come back and beat them 5-3 on Monday night.

With a win Monday, the Panthers had a chance to catch the Tampa Bay Lightning to earn home ice in the first round of the playoffs.

That ended with the loss to the Rangers.

The Panthers are now locked into the third spot in the Atlantic Division and visit Tampa Bay on Tuesday; the Lightning can still catch the Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Atlantic title and get the top seed in the divisional round.

On Monday, Sam Reinhart got his first of the night to give the Panthers an early lead before the Rangers tied it for the first time.

In the second, a Gus Forsling rebound bounced off Jonathan Quick and hit Carter Verhaeghe as he was net-front, going off his shin and in.

Reinhart got his second from the slot off a slick backdoor feed from Sasha Barkov to make it 3-1 before the Rangers scored a pair of quick ones late in the second to tie the game.

Vincent Trocheck gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead on a shorthanded goal at 3:40 of the third — and the Panthers never led again.

RANGERS @ PANTHERS

• Reinhart’s power play-goal that opened the scoring tied Aaron Ekblad for the sixth-most power-play points in franchise history.
• Trocheck, a third-round pick by the Panthers in 2011, played in his 800th NHL game on Monday. Of those games, 420 came with Florida. The Panthers traded Trocheck to Carolina in 2020 — with Eetu Luostarinen being part of the return.
• The Panthers played without Brad Marchand, Anton Lundell, Luostarinen, Niko Mikkola, and Mackie Samoskevich on Monday.

HOW THEY SCORED

• Panthers 1, Rangers 0 (2:22 1st PP): Sam Reinhart gets a loose puck off Sam Bennett’s stick and one-times it past Jonathan Quick.
• Rangers 1, Panthers 1 (8:43 1st): Matt Rempe deflects a shot from K’Andre Miller — then pokes through his own rebound from the front of the net.
• Panthers 2, Rangers 1 (4:32 2nd): Gus Forsling’s point shot comes off the pads of Quick, hits Carter Verhaeghe in the shin, and goes right back in.
• Panthers 3, Rangers 1 (13:54 2nd): Sasha Barkov looked to circle around the net, only he sent a backhanded shot to a waiting Reinhart in the slot.
• Panthers 3, Rangers 2 (15:55 2nd): Juuso Parssinen deflects a point shot from K. Miller.
• Rangers 3, Panthers 3 (17:33 2nd): Mika Zibanejad slides a nice pass across the crease to J.T. Miller in the slot.
• Rangers 4, Panthers 3 (3:40 3rd SH): The Panthers cough up the puck allowing J.T. Miller to charge in and send a backhanded pass to Vincent Trocheck in the left circle.
• Rangers 5, Panthers 3 (16:31 3rd): Jonny Brodzinski finds a loose puck in the crease and knocks it home to all but end this one.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

• 1. Vincent Trocheck, New York
• 2. Sam Reinhart, Florida
• 3. J.T. Miller, New York

ON DECK: GAME No. 82

FLORIDA PANTHERS at TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 

• When: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
• Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• National TV: ESPN
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Season Series (Panthers Lead 2-1) — At Tampa Bay: Panthers 4, Lightning 2 (Dec. 22); Tuesday. At Florida: Lightning 4, Panthers 0 (Dec. 23); Panthers 2, Lightning 1 (March 3).
• Last Regular Season: Panthers Won 2-1
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 79-52-19, 10 ties
• All-Time Postgame Series: Lightning Leads 2-1 (won 2021 first-round, 2022 ECS); Florida d. Lightning 4-1 in 2024 first-round.
• Up Next for the Panthers — Game 1, 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs: TBD