Panthers defeat Rangers in OT in Game 4, even Eastern Final

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Sam Reinhart scored a power-play goal at 1:12 of overtime, and the Florida Panthers evened the Eastern Conference Final with a 3-2 win against the New York Rangers in Game 4 at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.

Reinhart finished a tic-tac-toe passing play with Brandon Montour and Aleksander Barkov with a one-timer from the right hash marks.

“Well, if he’s open, obviously we want to look for him, and he’s in the slot and just get the puck to him," Barkov said of Reinhart. “Obviously, he’s scored a lot of goals from there and works really hard in the practices shooting from there, so you want to get the puck to him, and that’s what happened.”

Florida had lost in overtime in Games 2 and 3 of the best-of-7 series, which will continue with Game 5 in New York on Thursday.

“Confidence was good," Reinhart said. “When the game is tight and with the way we play, we’re going to generate chances. The more we can stick with it, the more we can stick to our structure, the more comfortable we’ll be, and you’ve got to believe that one is going to go in."

Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe also scored, and Barkov had two assists for the Panthers, who are the No. 1 seed from the Atlantic Division. Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves.

“We wanted it so bad. I think we were gripping our sticks a little tight in the first," Bennett said. “Then we started to loosen up and just relax, started making more plays, got back to our game that we've had success with all year. It was good composure by our part, and we just calmed down in the second and third there."

Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere scored, and Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox each had two assists for the Rangers, who are the No. 1 seed from the Metropolitan Division. Igor Shesterkin made 37 saves.

“Especially in the second, there was a lot of heat there," New York coach Peter Laviolette said. “We ended up going out in the third trying to force it to get that thing tied up. We did. Just not the way we wanted to get into that in overtime that quick."

Trocheck gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 8:51 of the first period. Panarin sent a pass from along the goal line to Trocheck, who scored with a one-timer from above the circles that went over Bobrovsky's right shoulder.

“I thought we were tight. That’s the best way I can describe it," Florida coach Paul Maurice said of the first period. “Both teams want it so bad, they’ve invested so much hard work to get here. I just thought we were tight, and then after the first we just played. It wasn’t more coaching, I would say less. I don’t have a better explanation for it. I don’t think that I wind them up hard before a game, but you never know what your impact is. My conversation after the first was I thought we were tight, and we don’t play that way.”

Bennett tied it 1-1 at 8:45 of the second period, three seconds after a power play expired. His initial shot from the top of the left circle handcuffed Shesterkin, and after the puck dropped down at the side of the net, Bennett jammed at it, resulting in it deflecting in off the goalie's left skate.

Verhaeghe then gave Florida a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 12:16. He batted in a loose puck at the edge of the crease after Matthew Tkachuk's backdoor pass deflected off him and Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren, whose stick initially broke up the pass.

“The power play got it done," Verhaeghe said. “Obviously, a huge couple goals, and it's nice to see it clicking a little bit here.”

Florida was 2-for-4 on the power play and is 5-for-15 with the man-advantage in the series.

“We're playing a team that's good on the power play and the penalty kill,” Laviolette said. “... They got us tonight. Tomorrow is a new day.”

Lafreniere tied it 2-2 at 3:28 of the third period, setting up near the left post and redirecting Fox's backhand, which was going wide of the net, in off Bobrovsky.

“I think we sat back a little bit in the second and allowed them to kind of dictate the period," New York forward Mika Zibanejad said. “We played a pretty good first period, set ourselves up. The second period was not what we wanted. Good job in the third tying the game up and giving ourselves a chance. Overall, not the result we wanted. It’s best-of-3. We go home and try to take care of Game 5.”

NOTES: Reinhart's goal was the fastest to begin an overtime period in Panthers history. ... Verhaeghe has seven points (three goals, four assists) during a five-game point streak. ... Lafreniere has seven goals this postseason. He is the fifth player in Rangers history to score at least seven in a single postseason before the age of 23. Alex Kovalev holds their record at nine (1994). ... Rangers forward Blake Wheeler played in his first game since sustaining a lower-body injury on Feb. 15. He had 9:18 of ice time but was assessed the hooking penalty at 59 seconds of overtime that led to Reinhart's goal. ... Trocheck's goal was New York's first on the power play this series (started 0-for-8).