5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers' Late Rally Falls Short in Loss to Rangers

These Panthers never just pack it in and go home.
Although they trailed by three goals late in the third period, the Panthers kept on fighting and rallied late in an eventual 4-3 loss to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
With their season-opening point streak ending at 11 games, Florida's record now sits a 10-1-1.

"I really loved that we didn't give up," Panthers Interim Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. "We competed right until the end. I thought that we tried all game, but we just made some mental mistakes that were costly, and that's going to happen. … I liked our compete. We pushed late."
Despite taking the loss, the Panthers led the Rangers 46-12 in scoring chances at 5-on-5.
"We've been feeling it a lot lately, but we're going to have those odd nights," Panthers forward Sam Reinhart said of the team's lack of finish. "We've got to learn to execute better, especially at the [blue] lines, against a team like this that can be so dangerous with their transition game."
Failing to score first for just the fourth time this season, the Panthers fell into an early hole when Chris Kreider pounced on a loose puck and lifted a rebound over Spencer Knight's pads and into the cage on the power play to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 7:52 of the opening period.
Sinking deeper into that deficit, the Panthers, despite being on the power play, then fell behind further when reigning Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox skated down the slot while shorthanded and beat Knight with a backhand shot to make it a 2-0 game with six seconds left in the period.
Despite owning big advantages in shot attempts (19-5) and scoring chances (14-3) at 5-on-5 during the opening 20 minutes, the Panthers headed into the first intermission on their heels.
"Really disappointed in the goal at the end of the first period," Brunette said. "I think we've let in some late goals here, so that's a little bit of an area of concern that we have to recognize. Our brain was shut off a little in that first period at different times."
In the second period, the Rangers appeared to extend their lead to 3-0 on a goal from Artemi Panarin, but upon an official review the score was overturned due to goaltender interference.
Unfortunately, however, that proved to only be a bump in the road in a big period for New York.
With the two teams playing 4-on-4 hockey later in the middle frame, the Rangers scored a pair of goals in just 30 seconds to double their lead to a commanding 4-0. After K'Andre Miller drove to the net and roofed a shot at 12:48, Ryan Strome then finished off a 2-on-1 break at 13:18.
"We just weren't completely sharp at different times of the game when we needed to be," Brunette said. "And, hey, they've got some skill and talent and they made some plays. We knew coming in that they had some guys that if we gave them opportunities that we'd pay the price."
Not going down without a fight, the Panthers finally got on the board just 20 seconds into the third period when Eetu Luostarinen took advantage of some chaos around the crease and sent the puck into the back of the net to spoil Igor Shesterkin's shutout bid and make it a 4-1 contest.
Shesterkin finished with 42 saves, while Knight made 14 of his own.
Nearly completing the comeback, the Panthers, who are called the "Cardiac Cats" for a reason, then pulled within just one goal of the Rangers in the waning minutes of regulation when Sam Reinhart and Patric Hornqvist scored at 18:34 and 19:20, respectively, to make it a 4-3 game.
Wrapping up a back-to-back set against the Devils on Tuesday, that inspired late push in New York should give the Panthers a confidence boost as they look to get back in the win column.
"There's some things we're going to look at tomorrow," Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas said. "We need to learn from all the things. I thought the guys showed resilience battling back at the end. We showed character. We're not giving up on any games."
Here are five takeaways from Monday's loss in the Big Apple…

1. A FRUSTRATING FIRST

If you just looked at the numbers, you'd probably think the Panthers led after the first period.
Alas, it was the other way around.
Despite leading the Rangers 14-3 in scoring chances at 5-on-5, the Panthers found themselves stuck in a 2-0 hole following the first 20 minutes of play. Even though Florida had plenty of good looks, New York was far more opportunistic, lighting the lamp twice over just nine shots on goal.
Winning the special teams battle, the Rangers scored both on the power play and penalty kill.
"I thought we were a little casual early in the game," Brunette said. "A lot of times when you're casual early, everything speeds up on you and you can't get back into your right cadence. I thought we were a bit out of sync in a lot of facets of the game, but not in our try and compete."
Entering tonight's game, the Panthers had been outscoring opponents 14-4 in the first period.

2. SHESTERKIN IS SHARP

A big reason the Panthers couldn't bury their chances was Shesterkin.
Standing tall between the pipes all night long, the Rangers goaltender turned aside 42 of 45 shots to improve to 6-2-2 on the season. Of those season-high 42 saves, a whopping 15 came on shots that were fired from high-danger areas on the ice, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
"Their goalie played great, there's no question about that," Reinhart said.
That being said, Reinhart also gave a lot of credit to New York's defensive structure.
"I think it was a combination of them doing a good job keeping us to the outside and then we didn't do a good enough job penetrating the middle and making it tough on them defensively," he said. "I think a number of those [shots], we didn't make it hard enough around their net."
Over the first two periods, Shesterkin stopped all 28 shots he faced.

3. LUOSTARINEN LIGHTS A FIRE

Even in defeat, Luostarinen's stick remains hot.
Netting his fourth goal in the last six games, the 23-year-old got the Panthers on the board tonight when he buried a rebound 20 seconds into the third period to trim the deficit to 4-1.

Overall, Brunette said he would've like to have seen more goals like that tonight.
"I thought we could've done a better job, and we did a little bit better late, of getting bodies a little bit more around the net, a little more inside," he said. "At times we do play a little too perimeter and I think we can get inside a little bit more. It's something we harp on daily."
Coming up in the clutch, two of Luostarinen's aforementioned four goals have been game-winners. And even though his score tonight didn't factor into the final decision, it's certainly a positive sign that the up-and-coming center is beginning to find his scoring touch this season.
When he was on the ice at 5-on-5 tonight, the Panthers led 18-7 in shot attempts.

4. NO QUIT IN THESE CATS

The Panthers had the Rangers sweating toward the end of tonight's game.
Showing just as much heart and passion in defeat as they had during their impressive point streak, the late goals from Reinhart and Hornqvist were a testament to the team's character.

"I loved the third and how we were able to bounce back a bit," said Reinhart, who has tallied 10 points (three goals, seven assists) this season. "We hope to bring that energy into tomorrow."
That being said, Brunette hopes the team doesn't put itself in precarious positions too often.
"We got what we deserve tonight," he said. "The mistakes that we made are very correctable."
In terms of individual notes, Hornqvist, who spun around and buried a quick goal after a draw to make it a 4-3 game with 40 seconds left in regulation, has now scored in back-to-back contests.

5. BACK AT IT

There won't be too much time to reflect on this first regulation loss.
Thankfully not having to travel too far to close out their back-to-back, the Panthers will now make the short trek to Newark for a tilt against the Devils at Prudential Center on Tuesday.
Making a habit out of bouncing back last season, Florida went 13-3-3 after losses in 2019-20.
"We need to learn from it, especially when we're this young group," Gudas said of tonight's loss. "There's veterans in the locker room that know the right things to say. I think we're heading in the right direction with the right mentality. We're going to mentally prepare ourselves for tomorrow. We're not going to win all of them in the season, so we need to learn from this."
Brunette said those lessons begin with a stronger first period than the team had in New York.
"We've got to be a lot cleaner," he said. "We have to be ready to play."

BONUS: MARCHMENT UPDATE

With the Panthers already missing several key players, Mason Marchment exited tonight's contest after crashing into the boards while attempting to finish a check in the third period.
After the game, Brunette said the injury is upper-body and he will be revaluated tomorrow.
Off to the best start of his career, Marchment had notched six points (one goal, five assists) in nine games prior to tonight's matchup. Making an impact against the Rangers prior to heading to the dressing room, he had the secondary assist on Luostarinen's goal earlier in the period.