New York Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart may have been hoping to bring some luck to the New York Rangers in their Game 5 Eastern Conference Finals matchup against the Florida Panthers.
But there was no such luck, as the Blueshirts didn’t score enough goals and fell to the Panthers. The Rangers are now one loss away from being eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Brunson and Hart were joined by Knicks coaches Tom Thibodeau and Rick Brunson – Jalen’s father – at Madison Square Garden to watch the hockey game.
Jalen posed for a photo while wearing a retro Mark Messier jersey, as well as some sort of splint on his left hand after injuring it in the series against the Indiana Pacers.
Anton Lundell broke a tie with 9:38 remaining and the Panthers defeated the Rangers 3-2 in the fifth game of a series that has seen the teams separated by one goal over the past four games. Unlike the previous three, this one did not require any additional time.
From left to right: Knicks with Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and coaches Tom Thibodeau, Rick Brunson
The New York Rangers suffered a defeat that now necessitates a do-or-die Game 6 in Florida on Saturday
Gustav Forsling and Sam Bennett also scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves to help the Panthers, who lost to Vegas for the title last year, win their second straight best-of-series series.
Bennett said the Panthers are not talking about a return trip to the Cup final. They are focused on one game at a time, although the memory of last season is positive.
“I think it helps a lot,” Bennett said. “Just to know the grind. How difficult is it. As much as it takes to be successful – to get this far – it takes a lot. We have learned a lot last year.’
Chris Kreider and Alexis Lafreniere scored for Rangers, and Igor Shesterkin made 34 saves in another great effort. The Presidents’ Trophy winners need to win two in a row to return to the finals for the first time since 2014. Mike Zibanejad had two assists.
The Panthers can end the series Saturday in Florida. If a seventh game is necessary, it will be at Madison Square Garden, where the Panthers have won twice this series.
This is the first time this season that the Rangers have been eliminated from the playoffs.
“There’s nothing to say,” Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said. ‘You stand with your back against the wall. We have to bring our best game to survive another day.”
The go-ahead came after the Rangers lost the puck in Florida. Eetu Luostarien got the puck and found Lundell at the Rangers blue line. His shot from the right circle beat Shesterkin.
Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) skates with the puck in the third period
Although it appeared the puck was deflected, many of the Panthers credited veteran Vladimir Tarasenko for attempting to tip the puck to Shesterkin. They thought it might have affected the goalkeeper.
“We had chance after chance and just kept grinding,” said Lundell, who along with Luostarinen were stopped near Shesterkin earlier in the period after shots between their legs. ‘We had some big chances. Finally we have reached the goal.’
Bennett added an empty-net goal with 1:52 to go and it proved necessary when Lafreniere scored with 50 seconds to play. The Rangers never got another chance.
“As the emotion builds in this series, the closer you get to the end, every single action, every little action counts,” said Florida coach Paul Maurice, whose team blocked 17 shots and had one giveaway.
Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said the series was tight.
“We need to take advantage of some of the chances we generated and we weren’t able to do that tonight,” he said. “It was like I said, it was tight. The game was tight. I thought we had looks and I thought we had chances, but they didn’t go in. It came down to one goal. So it’s a 2-1 game.’
Kreider and Zibanejad, who were winless in the first four games of the series, combined to give New York the lead with a shorthanded goal at 2:04 of the second period.
The Panthers celebrate an empty-net goal by Sam Bennett (center) in the third period
Oliver Ekman-Larsson (91) celebrates with goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky after the win
Kreider interrupted a Florida play at the blue line, pushed the puck to Zibanejad and then took a return pass to enter the offensive zone and beat Bobrovsky with a nifty backhand move, drawing a roar that seemed to shake Madison Square Garden.
It was Kreider’s eighth goal in the playoffs and the Rangers’ sixth shorthanded, tying the team’s 1978–79 postseason record. New York advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, losing to Montreal in five games.
Forsling equalized just over six minutes later, taking a perfect pass from Bennett and beating Shesterkin with a backhander that the goalkeeper deflected, but not enough to keep him out of the net. It was the defender’s fourth goal and eleventh point in the play-offs.
Both teams had big chances in the scoreless first period, with Bobrovsky holding off Filip Chytil and Vincent Trocheck from close range, and Shesterkin turning Kevin Stenlund aside and getting a little help from a post on Bennett’s backhander from close range.