Panthers rally for three goals in third period to defeat Rangers

SUNRISE, Fla. --Carter Verhaeghe broke a tie in the third period, and the Florida Panthers rallied for three goals to defeat the New York Rangers 4-3 at FLA Live Arena on Wednesday.

MacKenzie Weegar scored his first goal of the season for the Panthers (19-7-4), who ended a three-game losing streak. Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves.
"I'm proud of the way everybody battled tonight coming out of that break," Weegar said. "It was pretty impressive by everybody. We knew it was going to be a little sloppy. We knew we had to manage the game well. And then in the third period, the Comeback Cats, I guess it's just the thing that we do."
The Panthers lead the NHL with six third-period comeback wins this season.

Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad each had a goal and an assist, and Igor Shesterkin made 28 saves for the Rangers (19-8-4).
"I was real happy with the first two periods, obviously," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "I thought it was a good game, both teams back and forth, good goaltending, good solid play from both teams. In the third, we got away from it and made a couple of mistakes and they ended up in the back of the next."
Verhaeghe gave Florida a 3-2 lead at 10:31 when he ended an eight-game goal drought with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle. Anthony Duclair made it 4-2 at 14:40 when he finished a rush he began by blocking a shot inside the Florida zone.
"I was extremely happy for him," Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said. "It was a huge block and he scored a huge goal for us. I was proud of him. It was good to see him put his body on the line for the group and score a big goal."
Chris Kreider scored for the Rangers at 19:15 for the 4-3 final.

Florida trailed 2-1 heading into the third period before Weegar scored at 5:56 on a wrist shot from the slot to tie it 2-2.
"It was definitely a real relieving moment," Weegar said. "And obviously it came at a good time in the third period. We needed a big goal and I'm happy I could finally step up and get that first one for myself this season."
Panarin gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 11:08 of the first period after a stretch pass from Ryan Strome. Panarin slid the puck behind his skates before putting a backhand between Bobrovsky's legs.
"I've been practicing it the last three days," Panarin said. "I see them doing it at the World Juniors, I see [Kreider] doing it, I wonder, why am I not doing it?"

Anton Lundell tied it 1-1 at 5:09 of the second period when he got a loose puck in the slot after Gustav Forsling's shot was blocked.
Zibanejad gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 12:43 after Panarin lifted the stick of defenseman Radko Gudas to steal the puck from behind and passed across the front of the net.
"Both teams played very hard," Brunette said. "I don't know how the sharpness of play was. What impressed me was the compete that our group had all the way through the game, even when you're down in the third period. We just kept coming. That was a real good sign for our group."
NOTES: Florida center Aleksander Barkov played 19:26 and had two shots on goal after missing 12 of the past 13 games with a knee and an upper-body injury. … Panthers forward Mason Marchment had an assist and four hits in 12:23 after missing 17 games with an upper-body injury. … The Panthers play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. … Kreider has scored six points (two goals, four assists) in the past three games. … Panarin has a nine-game point streak (three goals, 13 assists) against the Panthers.