How Panthers reached Stanley Cup Final: 5 takeaways

Source: The New York Times
Author: Arthur Staple

SUNRISE, Fla. -- It's over for the New York Rangers. The Florida Panthers advanced to their second straight Stanley Cup Final with a 2-1 win in Game 6, sending the Presidents' Trophy winners out in the Eastern Conference final.

Sam Bennett's goal with 48.5 seconds left in the first period gave the Panthers a lead they held into the third, when Vladimir Tarasenko buried a feed from Anton Lundell with 10:52 left to give them a 2-0 lead. The Rangers, who chased too many of the games in this series and chased the Panthers too much, had no pushback after the two-goal deficit, worn down by a Florida team that executed to near-perfection in front of Sergei Bobrovsky, who made 22 saves.

Artemi Panarin got the Rangers on the board with 1:39 to play but the Rangers didn't get another good look before the final horn.

Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin had the best performance in the series for either team and was again excellent in Game 6. Still, the Rangers could not generate enough even with decent zone time and possession in this one.

The Panthers await the winner of the Edmonton Oilers versus Dallas Stars series in the Final. The Rangers go out at the same spot they did in 2022.

This was another no-show for the high-powered stars of the Rangers offense as Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Panarin combined for just two goals in the six-game series.

In Game 6 it was even worse -- Zibanejad and Kreider had just three shots on goal total in the elimination game. Panarin buried his first goal of the series to give the Rangers some late life, but there simply wasn't enough high-quality play from the high-end Rangers scorers.

Alexis Lafrenière, the Rangers' best forward throughout the series, was completely shut down in Game 6. He didn't have a shot on goal, and his line, with Vincent Trocheck and Panarin, was bottled up for a second straight game.

Zibanejad had a chance to tie it in the second, but the puck hopped over his stick in front of the net after a carom off the end wall.

It was a master class from the Panthers this series. Even though every game was tied or within a goal late, Florida never wavered from its demanding system, getting bodies and sticks in the way of so many Rangers passes and shot attempts. The Rangers tried the volume-shooting route in Game 6, with 72 attempts, but not enough of them came from in close as the Panthers tied up anyone that dared cut through the net front after the first 10 minutes of the first period.

They were this good all season long, unlike in 2022-23 when the Panthers squeaked into the playoffs and made a miracle run through the East as the second wild card. They won the Atlantic Division and barreled through the first two rounds playing the same style; this series, the Panthers were too much for the Rangers shift-in and shift-out.

Tarasenko had a fairly quiet series against his old team but popped to life at just the wrong time for the Rangers, helping to set up the go-ahead goal by Lundell with a strong net drive and screen in Game 5 and then sealing Game 6 and the series with a slam-dunk off a feed from Lundell.

The Panthers' third line was a revelation this series. The 22-year-old Lundell and 24-year-old Eetu Luostarinen were impressive all series and clutch in the final two games.

Tarasenko nearly gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead earlier in the third, but Shesterkin stretched full out with his left pad to deny the rebound chance. After Lundell blocked Panarin's shot inside the Florida blue line and Luostarinen won a puck battle with K'Andre Miller down the ice, Shesterkin couldn't do anything to deny Tarasenko a second time.

The Rangers' solid start at five-on-five started to shift as the first period wore on and the Panthers capitalized on a particularly rough shift for the Erik Gustafsson-Jacob Trouba pair.

Gustafsson tried a high flip that didn't clear the blue line, allowing the Panthers to attack for a few seconds. The Rangers gained possession, and it was Gustafsson again who tried a zone exit pass that Rodrigues batted down and quickly turned back.

Trouba then tried to step up on Rodrigues along the wall, missed and allowed a small-space two-on-one. Bennett and Rodrigues played give-and-go, and Bennett buried it from the left circle.

There were a few potential reviews on the play, one for Rodrigues batting the puck down with a high stick and another for offside entering the Rangers zone. But the Rangers didn't challenge either one.

The way the Rangers began Game 6, you might have thought this was a game in which they were ready to seize the advantage on puck possession and offensive-zone time. The Rangers had done well in those areas in Game 5 but were done in by a couple of rush chances. At the outset of this Game 6 they were cycling pucks and getting some position in front of Bobrovsky.

Jonny Brodzinski, the newest entrant into the Rangers lineup, had a deflection in front that forced a good Bobrovsky save, and a few minutes later Trocheck nearly got a stick on a tip in front.

The best Rangers chance of the first period was a rebound try by Jack Roslovic that went wide. Bobrovsky kicked a few rebounds of the Rangers' long-range shots into potential trouble areas but the Panthers were almost always in the right spot to clean up any danger.