As the Eastern Conference finals return to New York, the Rangers face a worrying trend in which they managed to escape Game 3 without getting burned, but came back to bite them in their loss in Game 4 game Tuesday night against the Panthers.
The Rangers lost Game 4 in overtime, 3-2, as the Panthers tied the series.
And the Rangers found themselves severely outplayed on the offensive end, with the Panthers outscoring the Blueshirts at an alarming rate over the past two games, including an 88-44 margin in Tuesday’s loss, according to Natural Stat Trick.
To add to the problem, Florida had more than double the high-danger chances (16-6) that the Rangers had in the Game 4 loss.
Igor Shesterkin was forced to make big save after big save as the Panthers piled on the pressure throughout the night, with Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart finding the back of the net.
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“We spend a little too much time playing defense, especially in the second half. » Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette said when discussing the line of Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. “It also happened in the last game, so we are not able to move and generate the way we want to. They come after you hard. They throw a lot of pucks.
“They’re forechecking hard, so you’re not spending time in the right zone.”
The Rangers faced a similar problem in Game 3 – a game in which they earned an overtime victory – when they were outscored 108-43, and the high-danger odds tilted in the Panthers’ favor, 16-8.
“That’s something we did much better at home by controlling the game,” Laviolette continued. “But there was a moment in Game 3 and then another one here in Game 4 where we didn’t have that push out of the period and that’s stopping guys from playing in the zone they want to get to. They are not there.
The series returns to Madison Square Garden for Game 5 on Thursday night.
New York Post
