SUNRISE, Fla. – The Rangers wanted this one. They wanted it badly.
Backup goalie Jonathan Quick announced his retirement earlier in the day and the team pushed their hardest to give No. 32 a sendoff that was worthy of a goaltender who is projected to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
They overcame a two-goal deficit. Tied in the third period, the visitors fought like a playoff berth was on the line.
A heavily depleted Panthers team, however, notched the game-winner with 1:50 left in regulation as Cole Reinhardt blasted his second goal of the game past Quick for a 3-2 win.
The Rangers have defended the rush relatively well this season, but they fell behind early after the Panthers converted on a couple odd-man chances.
An effective breakout by Florida led to Reinhardt burying a redirected rebound from Quick.
Mackie Samoskevich then blocked a Braden Schneider shot, caught up to the puck and roofed it on a contested breakaway for the 2-0 Panthers lead.
There was an apparent effort from the Rangers to defend hard in front of Quick.
They sacrificed their bodies for the play, throwing themselves in front of the puck and playing aggressively in the defensive zone.
Matthew Robertson scored his sixth goal of the season through traffic to make it a one-goal game going into the first intermission.
In a pretty evenly played second period, the Rangers were the only team to find the back of the net.
Gabe Perreault put in a rebound from the doorstep off Adam Fox’s shot to even the score at two-all later in the frame.
