Barely a minute into the second period the Panthers top line struck again. Kris Versteeg scored his 12th goal of the season with assists from Tomas Fleischmann and Keaton Ellerby.
Three minutes later the Rangers answered with a marker from Derek Stepan, his fourth of the season. He was assisted by Marion Gaborik and Ryan McDonough.
Soon after, Tim Kennedy was called for interference, but continued strong penalty killing by the Cats kept Florida up by one goal. Before the penalty expired, Stephen Weiss was called for delay of game, resulting in 10 seconds of 5-on-3 and another 1:50 of 5-on-4. Tomas Kopecky is like an all-star on the PK team, and he wasn't alone on this PK, with clears by Jason Garrison, Mike Weaver and Brian Campbell to keep the Rangers off the board.
The Rangers Andre Deveaux was assessed a five-minute game-misconduct for roughing with intent to injure Fleischmann. The resulting long power play was filled with quality chances for the Panthers, but they could not add to their one goal lead.
Stay tuned for what is sure to be an action packed third period.