Michal Repik almost got the Cats on the board at the two minute mark with a nifty bit of puck handling deep in the Rangers zone, but couldn’t get it past Lundqvist.
Dmitry Kulikov lit the lamp for the Panthers at the three minute mark with a 45 foot wrister, but the official waved it off. Replays showed that it bounced off the crossbar, and Lundqvist was still pitching a shutout.
Brandon Dubinsky continued the Rangers assault on the Panthers net with a backhanded shot for his fourth goal of the season with eight minutes gone in the second. Ryan mcDonagh collected his second assist of the night on the play.
Two minutes later, Matt Bradley finally got the Panthers on the board with a backhander for his second goal of the season with an assist from Erik Gudbranson. The goal cuts the Rangers lead back down to three.
At the 14 minute mark, Matt Bradley lost his stick during a scrum in front of Jose Theodore. He managed to negate a threat by knocking Brandon Dubinsky over with his hands, and the Panthers don’t seem to be giving this game up just yet.
Tomas Kopecky was called for tripping with 15 minutes gone in the period to put the Rangers on their first power play of the night. New York only got one shot on goal and the Panthers killed the penalty without incident.
Hits: Panthers, 35-25
Blocked Shots: Rangers, 12-6
Faceoffs: Panthers, 18-12
Shots On Goal: Rangers, 23-19
Score: Rangers 4, Panthers 1