Game 2 of the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals featured a ton of intrigue as the black rubber puck met the frozen floor surface at the “World’s Most Famous Arena” on Friday night. The Florida Panthers strolled into Madison Square Garden earlier in the week to shut out the New York Rangers, 3-0.
Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette inserted Transformer-like wrecking-ball / hockey-forward, Matt Rempe, back into the lineup for Game 2 to provide a 6-foot-7-sized physicality boost to the Rangers fourth lineup.
It would be Rempe’s teammate sending New Yorkers flooding onto the sidewalks of 8th Avenue with “Let’s Go Rangers” ringing louder than the horns from those infamous yellow cabbies.
Game 2 Goalie Riddle Solved By Rangers In OT
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Barclay Goodrow scored 14 minutes into a fiercely contested extra session of hockey at The Garden. On a play that was reviewed for a potential high stick, the veteran forward knocked the puck out of the air in the neutral zone, give-and-go pass to-and-from Trocheck before firing a shot that went off the glove of Bobrovsky only to be stopped by the twine between the red pipes.
Rangers coach Peter Laviolette was thrilled to see a hard worker get some kudos in the Game 2 OT spotlight:
“When you see someone who does so many other things to help a team be successful, I’m really happy for a guy like that to make a huge impact in the game tonight,” the Rangers coach said.
With the clutch overtime goal, the New York Rangers can breathe a slight sign of relief as they even the series at with the Game 2 victory.
First Period Fireworks On Broadway
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Both teams scored the only other goals of the game in the first period. New York’s Vincent Trocheck scored 4:12 into the game. THEN the fun started. The Rangers’ custom goal song set the soundtrack for an old-fashioned post-goal kerfuffle. If you haven’t seen the entertaining video, then before I share it, I need you to promise to come back so we can finish our chat here, yeah? Alright – off ya go.
Welcome back and/or thanks for staying! The man my PC spell-check will not “add to dictionary” despite my many attempts, Carter Verhaeghe, scored with under two minutes remaining in the first period to tie the score at 1. Because of course HE did. The goal is Verhaeghe’s 8th of the postseason.
Panthers Split Series In Big Apple To Claim Home Ice Advantage
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Florida coach Paul Maurice and his Panthers squad are now in the driver’s seat of the series despite a pair of closely contested games. Despite the overtime loss in Game 2, the Panthers can win their home games and claim the series in 6 games.
The winding path that leads to the NHL Stanley Cup Finals is never that straightforward, particularly when matched up against the best team from the regular season. Coach Maurice shared similar sentiments following Game 2:
“You shouldn’t beat the Presidents’ Trophy winner twice in a row, you really shouldn’t,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We got that to overtime. I liked it. We just couldn’t get it to go. It was two really good goaltenders at each end. It was exciting”
If the Game 1 and Game 2 are any indication, hockey fans are in for a treat as the scene shifts to Sunrise, Florida for the next two heavyweight rounds in the series. The next chapter of the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals story unfolds on Sunday afternoon, 05/26/24.
About The Author
Christopher Babos is a genuine sports & entertainment journalist with diverse credentials in writing, broadcasting, and digital media. Additional insightful sports articles are located here. He can be located on X for real-time takes (@CBabosWrites).
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