Lundqvist's goalkeeping and Parenteau's goal win for Rangers
Photo credit: MCT/JOE RIMKUS JR. | New York Rangers' Marian Gaborik (right) celebrates his power-play goal against the Florida Panthers with teammate Ryan Callahan in the second period of play. (November 25, 2009)
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Nov. 25: Rangers 2, Panthers 1
SUNRISE, Fla. - They were out of gas and nearly out of the building with a regulation win.
Down one defenseman for nearly the whole match and two defensemen for the final 14:40 of the third, the Rangers' conservative approach earned them two hard-won points when they pulled out a 2-1 win in a shootout on Henrik Lundqvist's three shootout saves and P.A. Parenteau's goal.
Wade Redden left with an upper-body injury only 4:50 into the game after a hard, legal check by Panthers rookie Victor Oreskovich.
Matt Gilroy had good intentions, but perhaps chose the wrong night to stand up for his teammates. Oreskovich leveled Vinny Prospal in the Rangers' zone in the third and Gilroy challenged Oreskovich to a fight.
Gilroy got an extra minor and a 10-minute misconduct for instigating the fight, leaving the Rangers with four defensemen for the final 14:20 while trying to protect a one-goal lead. Gilroy did return for the final 2:40 of overtime.
The Rangers killed that extra minor, plus another one when Prospal went off for interference 1:07 later. But they were clearly on fumes, just trying to hang on, when Sean Avery mishandled Marc Staal's outlet pass and Dominic Moore wristed one past Lundqvist with 4:53 left in regulation.
Marian Gaborik, naturally, gave the Rangers the lead with his deft tip-in of Chris Drury's one-timer from the point with 24.4 seconds left in the second period, Gaborik's league-leading 19th and one of the few good chances the Rangers generated on the night.
Drury, manning the power-play point in place of the injured Ales Kotalik, was effective in his return after a six-game absence, particularly on the power play and penalty kill.
Redden, derided for his play all last season but a steadier presence thus far under John Tortorella - steadier than fellow Garden boo target Michal Rozsival, anyway - got crushed into the end boards in his own zone by Oreskovich and stayed on his knees for a few seconds, then slowly skated to the bench and went to the dressing room.
He didn't emerge for the remainder of the night, and president Glen Sather was surely on the phone to get Bobby Sanguinetti to Tampa, Fla., for tomorrow's game. Sather and assistant GM Jim Schoenfeld spent much of the game trying to work out a way to call up Sanguinetti, who leads all AHL defensemen in scoring (6-15-21), without putting the Rangers over the salary cap.
After Redden departed, the Rangers got defensive and tried to play a smart road game. They allowed only two first-period shots and there were hardly any foolish pinches by the remaining five defensemen and two excellent penalty kills late in the first. The Panthers had no shots on those advantages.
