For the first time in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, the New York Rangers trail in a series. The Florida Panthers skated out of Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night with a convincing, at times dominating, 3-0 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
But Rangers coach Peter Laviolette's confidence in his Presidents' Trophy-winning team hasn't wavered.
«Can we win [Game 2]? I definitely believe we can win,» he said Thursday.
Laviolette said Game 1 was «an even game» between the teams: close on the scoreboard and in the analytics. Breaking down what went wrong for the Rangers against Florida to open the conference final — and how to fix those problems — shows his confidence isn't outlandish.
Here are five things the Rangers could seek to change for Game 2 on Friday night (8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+):
From 16:26 of the first period until 16:12 of the third period, the Panthers led Game 1 by a single goal. It was a tenuous lead that was threatened in multiple ways by the Rangers.
«We had a lot of chances to score. We hit the post three times. A lot of point-blank chances. Two breakaways,» Laviolette said. «There's opportunities where we could have scored that one goal and it didn't go.»
One Rangers goal in that time span obviously changes everything. It energizes the crowd. It allows New York to relax a bit. It might even mean a trip to overtime, where the Rangers won twice last round. Comeback wins are what this team does: The Rangers have 33 come-from-behind wins between the regular season and the playoffs, tied with the 2006 Hurricanes and 1984 Oilers for the most in NHL history.
But they didn't get that bounce. They did get some chances, and Laviolette said his team has to «take responsibility with our
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