Rangers vs. Panthers Game 1 Live Updates: Florida Wins Game 1

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice seems to have an anecdote to share about every player he has coached and coached against, but when it comes to his pickup at the trade deadline and ex-Ranger Vladimir Tarasenko, the story most worth telling took place during a time when they were on opposing benches in a playoff game.

It was the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when Maurice was the head coach of the Jets and they were facing Tarasenko and the Blues.

After the visiting team triumphed in each of the first four games, Winnipeg had a 2-0 lead in game five.

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What should worry the Rangers after Wednesday night isn’t just how they struggled to break down the Panthers’ defense and forecheck all night.

What should worry them just as much is that Florida coach Paul Maurice didn’t feel like his team forechecked particularly well on a night where the Rangers didn’t got only 23 shots on net from Sergei Bobrovsky and at one point played 14:23 without any in a 3-0 loss.

“That’s kind of how we play,” Maurice said. “I thought we were totally OK with it, to be honest with you.

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There wasn’t much good to come from the Rangers’ loss in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, but they were still within striking distance with less than four minutes left in the third period.

But then, the disaster struck on Wednesday evening.

After Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin came out of the net aggressively to play the puck, Panthers sniper Carter Verhaeghe found himself with the rubber on his stick on the far side boards, looking for ‘a cross pass to the weak side.

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Sergei Bobrovsky saw 23 shots Wednesday night and he stopped every one of them.

The Panthers goaltender accomplished a rarity in the opening 3-0 victory of the Eastern Conference final at the Garden, serving the Rangers with their first shutout of the playoffs – and only the second since the start of the 2023-24 season.

The last time the Blueshirts were held scoreless was a 4-0 loss on Dec. 9 against the rival Capitals.

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Perhaps there was some bad momentum left at the Garden after the Knicks’ Game 7 loss to the Pacers on Sunday.

It’s difficult to determine which of the Rangers’ close misses kept them up late Wednesday and early Thursday morning.

Because there were a few of them, and each deserved to be deplored the day after their 3-0 defeat against the Panthers.

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Rangers legend Mark Messier was already saying the team was playing “too safe” and “too conservative,” and that was before the Blueshirts handed the first game to the Panthers.

The 3-0 loss surely won’t change his opinion that the Rangers should put Matt Rempe back in the lineup for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

Speaking during the second intermission on ESPN, Messier explained why the Rangers needed to reinsert the popular bruiser into the lineup.

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An unlikely person agreed with the goalie interference call that erased a Panthers goal.

Their own coach Paul Maurice.

“I thought it was fair, because that’s the decision I would want regarding Sergei,” Maurice told reporters after the first match.

The Rangers had a big opportunity that they were unable to capitalize on, explained Peter Laviolette after the defeat in the first match.

The Panthers saw a goal called off midway through the third period that could have been a catalyst for the Rangers to turn the tide, but the Blueshirts never found a way to make the most of it.