New York Rangers beat Florida Panthers in Game 2 on Barclay Goodrow overtime goal
The New York Rangers had forward Barclay Goodrow on the ice in overtime Friday night because there was a faceoff in the defensive zone.
He not only won the draw, he raced down the ice and ripped a shot past Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky for a 2-1 victory that evened the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final at one game apiece.
Goodrow chipped the puck out of the air, fed Vincent Trocheck, who gave Goodrow a return pass for the winning goal at 14:01. It was Goodrow's fourth goal of the playoffs, matching his regular-season total, and second game-winner for the versatile, physical forward who won two Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"To see him score a goal like tonight is awesome because his role doesn't always consist of that, it's not always in the offensive zone," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette told reporters.
Bobrovsky had a 12-game winning streak in overtime before allowing the goal.
"We weren't completely satisfied with the way we played in Game 1, and I think we wanted to rebound tonight with a better effort and I think we feel a lot better about how we played tonight," Goodrow told reporters.
Game 3 will be Sunday afternoon (3 p.m. ET, ABC) in Sunrise, Florida.
After a flat first period in Game 1, the Rangers came out charging in Game 2. They figured out a way around the Panthers' aggressive forecheck and got their first goal of the series.
Trocheck scored it at 4:12, set up by Adam Fox, who picked up his first point since Game 2 of the second round. Alexis Lafreniere had hit Carter Verhaeghe during the sequence.
A scrum started that resulted in three penalties, putting the Rangers on the power play. But the Panthers killed off the penalty, plus a later interference penalty to Dmitry Kulikov for a hit on Alex Wennberg.
The Panthers started picking up play and tied it up on a Verhaeghe power play goal at 18:09 as he skated in from the point and fired the puck past a screened Igor Shesterkin.
"They had the first 10 minutes. ... After that, we were pretty good," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.
Rangers' Jimmy Vesey leaves game after Ryan Lomberg hit
Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey left the game in the second period after a big hit from the Panthers' Ryan Lomberg. The team said in the third period that he wouldn't return.
"He's upper body right now and being evaluated, so we'll see," Laviolette said.
Lomberg also had a big hit on Mika Zibanejad in the first period.
Matt Rempe returns to Rangers lineup
The Rangers inserted popular 6-foot-8 forward Matt Rempe in the lineup for the first time since Game 5 of the second round to provide energy.
He did, delivering nine hits. He was even cheered by the crowd for winning a faceoff after Goodrow was kicked out of the faceoff circle.
Laviolette often limits Rempe's ice time, but he got five shifts in the third period and one in overtime.
"I heard Lavy call my name with like two minutes left. I was like, 'Oh, man. That's wild. Jiminy Crickets, let's go,' " he told reporters.
Kaapo Kakko was a healthy scratch.