This just in: Authorities in Sunrise, Florida are investigating an alleged heist that took place at Amerant Bank Arena yesterday afternoon. The Florida Panthers, according to law enforcement officials, were robbed of what should've been a win and a 2-1 series lead against the New York Rangers. While they don't yet know the identity of the culprit, they do have a description. He's 6-1, 197 lbs, and was last seen driving on I-95 wearing a goalie mask. Police are encouraging anyone with knowledge of the whereabouts of this individual to contact their local precinct before game four on Tuesday.
Seriously, what happened in game three made the 1978 Lufthansa heist look like a couple kids stealing their buddy's lunch money. Igor Shesterkin - the above culprit, in case you were wondering - has stolen many a game in his relatively brief career as an NHL goaltender. None could compare with what we witnessed yesterday afternoon, especially in the third period, when the Rangers spent most of the twenty minutes trapped in their own end. After tying the score at 4 at the 6:58 mark, the Panthers tried repeatedly to get the go-ahead goal, but were turned away each and every time. Not even a time out called by Peter Laviolette with 11:30 left in regulation was able to stem the onslaught.
It was, without a doubt, the worst period of hockey the Rangers have played in these playoffs, and that includes the third period in game five against the Carolina Hurricanes. Conversely, it was the Panthers best period, certainly in this series. Which makes the result - a 5-4 OT win for the Blueshirts - that much more remarkable.
Consider the following: The Rangers are 0-8 on the power play through three games; their top players - Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider and Adam Fox - have yet to score a goal; and the team as a whole has played maybe four good periods of hockey the entire series. By any objective metric, the Panthers should be up 2-1 instead of down 1-2. And yet, strange as it may seem, the Rangers are two wins away from their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in ten years.
The lack of production from the stars is becoming alarming and is unsustainable. As Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post pointed out, "Either the Rangers are so deep that they might be unbeatable, or their stars are in such a slump that they might be doomed." Yesterday, it looked more like the former as Barclay Goodrow - AKA Clarke Gillies - scored a pair of goals, the latter while New York was shorthanded, and Alex Wennberg - one goal in 19 regular-season games as a Ranger and none in the playoffs - netted the game winner in OT.
But if New York wants to avoid the latter, it must get its power play going, and soon. As I wrote in my last piece, "there is no pathway to a Stanley Cup for the Rangers that doesn't include a productive power play." The Panthers, with one power play goal in game two and two in game three, are winning the special teams battle. Their relentless forechecking is starting to take its toll. Eventually, it will wear the Rangers down. It's only a matter of time. Resiliency can only take you so far in the postseason. Just ask the New York Knicks.
Look, the Panthers are the bigger team; that's pretty obvious. The Rangers, when they get their transition game going, are the faster one. We've seen examples of that speed in this series. We need to see more, a lot more.
Two years ago, the Rangers held a 2-1 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Finals before finally running out of gas. This year's team didn't have to play as many games to get to this point. That could prove to be the difference between winning the Cup or falling short.
We'll know soon enough if it is.
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