3 Reasons Not to Panic After Rangers Lose Game 1

The New York Rangers kicked off their Eastern Conference Finals matchup against the Panthers on Wednesday Night, marking the first time the teams have met in the playoffs since 1995. The Rangers disappointed the Garden faithful dropping the opening game 3-0 marking the first time this season the Rangers have trailed in a playoff series. While some fans may be ready to grab the panic button, there are a few reasons to be positive about game one.

3. The Two Goals Igor Did Allow He'd Love to Have Back

If you were to ask Igor Shesterkin, he'd likely tell you himself that this wasn't his best game despite allowing just two goals. The two goals Igor allowed, however, weren't perfectly placed shots or goals resulting from solid offensive play, but rather soft goals.

The Matthew Tkachuk goal that opened the scoring only barely snuck by Igor Shesterkin, and ninety-nine times out of 100 he likely makes the save with ease. The second goal, Igor Shesterkin misplayed the puck, turning it over, and the Rangers still almost dodged allowing the goal if not for Alexis Lafreniere scoring on his own net.

If the Panthers scored four or five goals beating Igor Shesterkin cleanly, the Rangers would certainly feel much worse about how this game panned out. If the Rangers were able to play this same exact game again they'd likely win every time if the offense was able to turn its play around.

2. While the Power Play Struggled, the Penalty Kill Continues to Thrive

The Rangers special teams units have been outstanding this postseason and have played a massive part in why the Rangers are in the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite the Rangers taking three penalties and drawing two, neither team was able to muster up any goals.

The Rangers penalty kill continues to dominate as they shut down the Panthers on three separate powe rplays all while allowing few scoring chances. The penalty kill is starting to become the spark that both the Rangers and Madison Square Garden need in these games as the Rangers are using it to generate scoring chances.

The power play on the other hand is starting to slump a little bit over the past few games. Outside of a Mika Zibanejad slapshot that went just wide of the net, the Rangers generated few chances on their pair of power plays. After seeing what the Panthers did to shut down the Rangers power play, you can fully expect to see some adjustments by Peter Laviolette and his staff.

1. Defense Was Outstanding

While the Rangers offense was able to get nothing going against the Panthers the defense held up on its end. The Florida Panthers are scoring 3.5 goals per game this postseason scoring 3 or more goals in nine of its twelve playoff games. The team let up just 27 shots on goal while 18 shots against one of the best offenses in the league.

The Rangers really only let up one goal as the Panthers scored their final two goals on Alexis Lafreniere's own goal and scored on the empty net. Through 55 minutes of this game, the Rangers allowed just one goal and if offered that, the Rangers would take it every time against a team as talented as the Panthers.

Heading into the rest of the series the Rangers have to feel incredible about how the team played in its own end. The Rangers also allowed the Panthers to control the game in the Rangers' own zone which could easily be fixed with a more sustainable offense. The biggest concern will be that if this series goes the distance the Rangers defensemen will be beat up, as the Panthers punished the Rangers defense by racking up 29 hits this game.

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