The billing of Florida as the league’s most physical team may have, in fact, undersold the Panthers.
What took place at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night was suffocation with a beating thrown in as the Rangers were simply unable to get any offense going or match the physicality of the Panthers in Game 1 of this Eastern Conference Final, which Florida won 3-0.
Within the opening minutes of the match, Florida had tossed a series of hits — Matthew Tkachuk on Vincent Trocheck the most notable — that set a tone the Rangers never overcame.
The Panthers, who led the league in hits during the regular season, played relentless and unyielding hockey.
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The top-six that controlled much of the second-round series against the Hurricanes was left without an answer, with Peter Laviolette scrambling the line combinations at one point.
None of it did much to help, because Florida’s forward core — with Selke Trophy winner Aleksander Barkov and vote-getter Sam Reinhart sharing the top line with Vladimir Tarasenko — never let up.
The Panthers dominated all three zones, knocking the Rangers off the puck as deep as behind their own net on more than one occasion.
During the second period, the home side went 14:23 without a shot — a function in part of the Panthers’ offensive control, but mostly of their tenacity in getting it back.
The Rangers have not seen something like this in these playoffs.
The Hurricanes were aggressive, and so are the Panthers. But Florida on Wednesday night was more controlled, more effective in its physicality and far less susceptible to breakdowns than Carolina was at any point in the second round.
This was as inevitable as the tides, shift after shift, and until the final minutes of the game, the only thing the Rangers could hope to do was get a breakaway every so often.
The Panthers forechecked with purpose. They out-battled the Rangers. They finished every single check.
The Rangers, meanwhile, did not throw a meaningful hit until Jacob Trouba laid out Kevin Stenlund deep into the third period, despite possessing the puck far less than their opposition.
Winning this series will require a physical edge. It will require holding onto the puck and doing more than just working around the walls.
The Rangers flunked on those requirements Wednesday and they should be worried on the basis that it was not an outlier performance from these Panthers, who allowed more than two goals just once in the second round.
This was only the first blow. But, literally and figuratively, it went to Florida.
