Panarin scores twice, Rangers rally to defeat Panthers in shootout

NEW YORK -- Artemi Panarin scored twice in regulation, including the tying goal with 3:25 remaining, and had the deciding goal in the shootout, helping the New York Rangers rally for a 4-3 win against the Florida Panthers at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Igor Shesterkin stopped Vladimir Tarasenko in the third round to seal the win.

Panarin has 99 points (43 goals, 56 assists) in 71 games this season, including five goals in his past two games.

"He had another monster game," New York coach Peter Laviolette said. "He's so dangerous. He's leaving everything out on the ice. He comes back to the bench and he's completely gassed. He gives it all every shift. I mean, he's playing his heart out."

Adam Fox had a goal and an assist, and Vincent Trocheck had three assists for the Rangers (47-20-4), who have won two in a row and seven of their past nine. Shesterkin made 27 saves.

New York, which is first in the Metropolitan Division, moved three points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes. Each has 11 games remaining.

"That's a big win," Trocheck said. "Two of the better teams in the East. These games are huge late in the season, get you geared up for the playoffs. This is the style of hockey that we're going to need to play. It goes a long way when you're able to beat these teams like these guys, Boston, teams that are at the top of the League."

Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist, Eetu Luostarinen scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves for the Panthers (45-20-5), who have lost four in a row (0-3-1).

Florida pulled within two points of the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division with two games in hand. The Bruins lost 3-2 at the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

"I liked our game tonight," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "I'm real happy with it, how hard they played, the effort, the stuff you guys can't hear or appreciate, just the wiredness of the bench, pulling for each other. It's been a little bit of a grinder for us, but the element that we haven't been able to grab hold of in our games was in it tonight. I was very happy with it."

Tkachuk gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 8:18 of the first period, scoring off a netfront deflection of Josh Mahura's wrist shot from the left point.

Luostarinen extended it to 2-0 after scoring on a 2-on-1 with Reinhart 21 seconds into the second period.

"In the second period down two goals, you need to have a spark, you need to score that next one," Trocheck said. "To go down three would be a massive hole to climb out of against a team like that."

Fox cut it to 2-1 at 6:22 on the power play with a wrist shot from the slot. He extended his point streak to seven games (four goals, six assists).

"You definitely saw us gain a little momentum," Fox said. "After that it seemed like we started generating, started playing in their end, causing some turnovers. We really got some life from it."

Panarin scored 2:01 later to tie it 2-2 at 8:23 with a one-timer from the left face-off circle off a pass from Trocheck.

Verhaeghe put the Panthers back ahead 3-2 at 15:52 of the third period with a shot from the right circle into the top right corner of the net.

Panarin tied it 3-3 with his second goal 43 seconds later, scoring on a shot that went in off Panthers center Kevin Stenlund at 16:35.

"If I see an open guy I'll always pass it, but I just shoot no look, especially in that moment, and thank God the puck bounced 10 times and went in," Panarin said.

Shesterkin and Bobrovsky each made four saves in overtime.

Mika Zibanejad and Sam Reinhart scored in the first round of the shootout. Panarin gave the Rangers the advantage with his goal in the second round, waiting out Bobrovsky as he crossed the slot before scoring from the right side.

"I usually don't know what I'm going to do before a shootout, just try to figure it out in the moment," Panarin said. "I was a little confused in the beginning and just found a hole after."

The loss, though, did not bother the Panthers, who were playing without center Aleksander Barkov (lower body), and defensemen Aaron Ekblad (lower body), Gustav Forsling (illness) and Dmitry Kulikov (suspended).

The way they handled the game without four top players mattered more, Maurice said.

"We were anchored right," Maurice said. "Our leadership, the guys in the room, was fantastic. The bench was right. I look at everything from a regulation point of view, did you win or did you lose because there's no 3-on-3 and there's no shootout in the playoffs. We came in on the road banged up and I wouldn't say riding a whole lot of confidence and we looked pretty good tonight. I'm pretty happy."

NOTES: Rangers defenseman Erik Gustafsson sustained an undisclosed injury in overtime and was being evaluated after the game, Laviolette said. … Trocheck has 45 assists this season, an NHL career high. He had 44 assists when playing for the Panthers in 2017-18. … Shesterkin (30-15-2) has 30 wins for a third straight season. … Verhaeghe ended a 14-game goal drought dating to Feb. 20.