What a thriller game 3 was between the New York Rangers and Florida Panthers. Nine total goals, a four-minute penalty, a third-period comeback, and a Rangers OT winner characterized the 65 minutes of game 3.
Struggling Florida PP
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Florida’s powerplay at home leading up to game 3 was quite awful. Scoring only once in their last 17 PP chances at home, forward Sam Reinhart took matters into his own hands. Reinhart potted a powerplay goal early on for the Cats in the first period, ending their home powerplay drought.
Rangers Rally Back:
The Rangers showed no signs of defeat, going down 1-0 early on in game 3. Five minutes after Florida scored, Rangers forward Alexis Lafrenière scored on a breakaway, throwing a backhand shot over Bobrovsky’s glove hand to tie the game.
25 seconds later, a deflection from Barclay Goodrow, the game 2 overtime hero, gave New York a 2-1 lead. Goodrow’s goal was their first lead in the series until Florida’s Sam Reinhart scored another powerplay goal, tying game 3 yet again.
Lafrenière With A Beauty:
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Alexis Lafrenière played out of his mind in game 3. A breakaway goal that went top-shelf in the first period was enough for the young Ranger, as he had to up the ante with a beautiful toe-drag goal, beating Bobrovsky’s low glove this time to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead.
Controversy Surrounding Trouba
With two and a half minutes remaining in the second period, Rangers’ Jacob Trouba was assessed a two-minute minor penalty for elbowing Florida’s Evan Rodrigues. This call will be looked at as very controversial as it appeared that there was clear head contact to the head of Rodrigues from Trouba’s elbow. But, even with a review, the on-ice officials determined to be only a two-minute minor on Trouba.
Comeback Cats
Although the result wasn’t what they had hoped for, the Florida Panthers did what they do best and fought their way back to tie the game in the third. Even down 4-2 at the start of the third, Florida’s constant offensive pressure wore out the Rangers, resulting in mistakes from the Blue Shirts, which Florida capitalized on.
Goals from Florida’s captain Alexander Barkov and defenseman Gustav Forsling tied the game 4-4, but it was Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin who stole the third period. With 11 tremendous saves on 13 shots in the third, Shesterkin bailed out his team and helped force overtime for the second straight game.
With two minutes remaining in regulation, Florida had almost triple the amount of shot attempts the Rangers had (91-35). Florida’s ability to control the puck in the offensive zone has been their MO all season, and game 3 was proof of that.
Good Heavens Goodrow
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Barclay Goodrow had 4 goals for the Rangers in the regular season. He now has 4 goals in these playoffs along with an OT winner in game 2 against Florida. A deflection and a slapshot goal while short-handed in game 3 propelled the Rangers to stun Florida 5-4 in overtime.
Game 4
Game 4 between these star-studded teams will commence on Tues, May 28th, at 8:00 PM EST. The Rangers will have an excellent opportunity to put a stranglehold on the series as a game 4 four win would put them one win away from the Stanley Cup Final with game 5 back at Madison Square Garden. You can catch the coverage for Game 5 on ESPN or ESPN+.
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About the author: Trevor Poetzinger is a recent graduate from Western Michigan University. With a degree in journalism, Poetzinger is looking to start a career in sports journalism. Poetzinger is a big Chicago sports fan, with the Blackhawks and White Sox as his favorites. Poetzinger also loves talking about anything hockey and baseball-related, whether it’s the pros, semi-pros, or college.
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