Rangers-Panthers are ready to make memories in Florida – and they will probably be physical

Larry Brooks

NHL

By Larry Brooks

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Rangers and Panthers have played many games here since the Puddy Tats moved to this outpost for the 1998-99 season, and perhaps one of them was a standout.

This would have been the February 16, 2000 contest in which Brian Leetch moved from defense to left wing for the only time in the number 2’s career. John Muckler, then head coach, wanted Leetch to face and follow right winger Pavel Bure, the most explosive and convincing player in the league.

Bure did not score on the ice against Leetch, who spent 23:47 on the ice. The “Russian Rocket,” however, scored his league-leading 41st goal in Florida’s 57th game, at 7:46 of the first period for the 1-0 goal in a 3-0 game when Jan Hlavac failed to score. failed to change on the fly. when Bure came on board.

Best laid plans and all that.

Just a quarter century later, there will be important games between the Rangers and Panthers here, and they will be Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the first of which takes place on Sunday afternoon. They will produce memories more substantial than the aforementioned curiosity from the darkest age of Blueshirts history.

That’s a completely different matter. The Rangers are in the embryonic stages of building a squad that will last. They continue to establish themselves as a meat and potatoes team with a golden touch that can hold their own against heavier teams like Carolina and Florida.

The response in Friday’s Game 2 was one of will and skill. It’s fitting that Barclay Goodrow won overtime in a game that turned sour because he is the Rangers’ most inherently mean and nasty player – I say that with affection.

Here’s the problem ahead: Malice is in the Panthers’ blood. They arrive high; they come strong; they come with a purpose. They are tall. If Dmitry Kulikov and Ryan Lomberg weren’t aiming for the head of Alex Wennberg and Jimmy Vesey respectively, they could have fooled a lot of people. There’s Nick Cousins, always on the lookout. There is the specter of Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk. Their defenders don’t give up.

This is who they are.

I’m not sure it’s the Rangers, although I know they will try to adopt the physical pose they brought to the ice and maintained for the 74:01 it took to decide game 2. It’s not a question of heart or commitment. I just wonder if they are built for this kind of hockey fight against a formidable opponent who takes advantage of it.

There’s Goodrow, sneaky and mean during the season and less sneaky now, who is made for this. Jacob Trouba, who rightly started the rush that decided the match with a spectacular exit with Lomberg running at him on a forecheck, is a villain who is made for this. Ryan Lindgren always plays with an edge and is made for it. We know what Matt Rempe is and we have seen that Will Cuylle will never turn away from success. There’s a reason Braden Schneider is nicknamed “Baby Troubles.”

And boy, did Erik Gustafsson join every scrimmage as quickly as he could on Friday, no joke. Oh yeah, and the exuberant Alexis Lafreniere had a great moment with Carter Verhaeghe crushing the always dangerous number 23 down the ice to create the Rangers’ first goal. And yes, Chris Kreider was credited with five hits, and Adam Fox, who certainly looked weakened, had a growl in his step throughout.

Maybe the Rangers can take on the Big Bad Puddy Tats. But it would certainly help if they could make their power play work. I give them huge credit for gutting out Friday and for their big men strapping on their hard hats when things weren’t really going well and the Blueshirts seemed to be hanging on for dear life for much of the game.

But the Rangers largely live off their power play production. This moves the needle. It inflates them. Igor Shesterkin separates them, as does the PP1 unit. The Blueshirts will forever be in a physical battle with the Panthers if they can’t break away by scoring a power play goal or two here and there.

It’s not just these last two games in which the Rangers went 0 for 6 in 11:14 while getting 10 shots off Sergei Bobrovsky. The next level power play has actually been 1 for 16 over the last six games and is 1 for 21 since the middle of Game 2 against Carolina, and why hasn’t Vincent Trocheck played zero PP in the offensive zone against the Panthers?

I can tell you that while I’m not sure the Rangers can maintain the level of physicality necessary to progress, I’m certain that a dysfunctional power play is not sustainable for this team.

There is a lot of work to do. There are memories to be made here by the Rangers.