Rangers struggle again on power play, in 3rd period in Game 5 loss to Panthers

NEW YORK -- For the New York Rangers, their two weaknesses came back again to haunt them in the biggest game of the Eastern Conference Final so far.

The Rangers failed on the power play and lost the third period again in a 3-2 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 5 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

As a result, the Rangers face elimination for the first time this postseason, trailing 3-2 in the best-of-7 series.

Game 6 is at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS, CBC). Win and they force Game 7 on Monday. Lose and the franchise's Stanley Cup drought extends to 30 years.

To stay alive, New York will have to be better on the power play. The Rangers went 0-for-3 in Game 5 and are 1-for-14 for the series.

Their penalty-killers have two short-handed goals in this series, including the one by Chris Kreider to open the scoring at 2:04 of the second period on Thursday.

“Today [the power play] was kind of there, but it's missing that last pass or that last execution,” Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad said. “We'll look at it tomorrow. We know what we're capable of doing. We just have to make sure we take advantage of the chances when they come."

They didn’t do that Thursday.

The go-ahead goal by Florida forward Anton Lundell, at 10:22 of the third period, came 84 seconds after the Rangers had two quality chances on a penalty to defenseman Niko Mikkola.

"You're not going to score every time you go out there on the power play, but I think you want to at least create some momentum,” Zibanejad said. “I think we've done that with some. I know it can be better. We'll talk about it tomorrow and see what we have to do."

It’s almost incomprehensible that the Rangers are this ineffective on the power play after they were 11-for-35 (31.4 percent) on the man-advantage against the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes in the first two rounds. In the regular season, the Rangers were third in the NHL at 26.4 percent.

They have rarely had answers for the Florida kill, which pressures the points, hurries passes along the walls and boxes out netfront traffic.

“I mean, I guess close isn’t cutting it,” Rangers defenseman Adam Fox said. “We have to capitalize on those chances. Big spots, we have some looks. You don’t win games based on getting looks, you have to capitalize. It’s definitely on us.”

So are the third periods when the Rangers have been overmatched, which have been a theme throughout this series.

The Panthers have six goals in the five third periods; the Rangers have two. In the past three games, New York has 23 fewer third-period shots than Florida.

The Panthers have used an aggressive forecheck to pin the Rangers in their zone for long stretches, especially in the latter half of each game.

The Rangers countered that in the first period Thursday, but as the game progressed, the Panthers settled into their game.

“I think the way we played in the first, we have to try to play like that every period, but they are also a good team,” Fox said. “They are going to get pucks in, get chances and get in on the forecheck.

“They got that goal off the rush. I thought we had some looks and some chances, but it’s not the way you want to come out for that third period, 1-1 at home.”

The Lundell goal came on a 3-on-2 with the forward’s shot appearing to squeeze past goalie Igor Shesterkin, who played brilliantly yet again, making 34 saves.

Shesterkin has stopped 155 of 166 shots for a .934 save percentage. Sergei Bobrovsky (25 saves) has faced 39 fewer shots in this series.

“I thought they pushed in the third period,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “I thought they got some chances on the rush, a couple of chances off our turnovers and they were able to capitalize on one.”

Can these problems be fixed with the season the line, in a series where four of the five games have been decided by one goal, three of which have gone to overtime?

Of course, say the Rangers.

“Backs against the wall here and we are a pretty resilient group. I think we have responded well all year to situations where we want to get a win,” Fox said. “Obviously, season on the line going in there. There’s not much more to be said there, we just need to get the win there.”