Barkov powers Panthers past Rangers
NEW YORK -- Aleksander Barkov scored the only goal of the shootout, and the Florida Panthers rallied for a 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
The win was only the second in the last eight games for the Panthers (31-28-11), who kept their faint playoff hopes alive in the Eastern Conference.
The Rangers (44-24-3) have lost six straight on home ice. Their last win at MSG was on Feb. 19.
The teams entered the third period tied 2-2 before Barkov scored at 7:23 and New York's Mats Zuccarello potted his second of the night at 11:45 to even things up again.
Antti Raanta made 34 saves through regulation and overtime for the Rangers, while James Reimer finished with 29 saves for the Panthers.
The Rangers scored on two of their first three shots of the game, but failed to turn that fast start into a runaway. Instead they watched the Panthers climb back into the contest, and forge a 2-2 tie after two periods.
Zuccarello finished off a pretty passing sequence with teammates Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan to put the Rangers up 1-0 just 2:34 into the game. Less than two minutes later, J.T. Miller put a left-wing shot between Reimer's pads for his 20th goal at 4:11.
Florida used its timeout at that point, but did not turn things around until after Reimer made an outstanding glove save to rob a wide-open Stepan at 8:44. From that point until well into the second period, the Panthers recorded 17 of the game's next 18 shots on goal.
Jonathan Huberdeau -- his sixth goal at 1:25 -- and Jussi Jokinen -- a power-play tally at 6:41 -- scored early in the second period. It remained 2-2 after Reimer again stoned Stepan on a glorious scoring opportunity late in the period.
NOTES: Playing in his 1699th game, Panthers RW Jaromir Jagr picked up two assists, giving him 1,907 career points. ... Rangers LW J.T. Miller reached 20 goals for the second straight season with his first-period tally. ... The Panthers scratched G Roberto Luongo (lower body), D Aaron Ekblad (upper body), C Denis Malgin (upper body), D Mackenzie Weegar, and D Michael Sgarbossa. ... The Rangers scratched G Henrik Lundqvist (hip), D Kevin Klein (back), LW Pavel Buchnevich, C Brandon Pirri, LW Matt Puempel, and D Adam Clendening.