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Rangers Have No Answer For The Smothering Panthers & Now Face Elimination in Florida

Bruce Bennett. Getty Images.

Uh oh.

Man, this Panthers squad is tough. Real tough. The Rangers started off well once again but the more time that ticks off the clock the better Florida gets…and now it's looking like the same for the longer the series goes. After an even first period & coughing up a Kreider shorty early in the second, the Cats tightened the screws. They got stronger against zone entries. Heavier on the forecheck. More physical on the boards. Took away any semblance of time and space from the Blueshirts. They played the rest of the way almost certain the only way they were gonna lose is if the final score was 1-0. But even Igor Shesterkin isn't gonna keep Florida off the scoreboard for 60 minutes when the ice keeps tilting more and more. Gustav Forsling eventually broke through almost midway through the game before Anton Lundell found a hole in Igor with less than 10 to play to take a lead his team would not relinquish.

I don't even think the Rangers played poorly. Their powerplay didn't break through in three chances but opportunities were there. There were rebounds to be had on Bobrovsky - none bigger than one that flew off his pad past Kakko in the slot only to go the other way and result in the Lundell tally. I'm not saying they played great either but my point is tonight there was no question about it. Florida was the better team and Laviolette's squad simply couldn't find an answer. Now, for the first time these playoffs, the Blueshirts don't have a choice. One more game without a response and it's curtains.

And let's be real. Even though the Panthers split their home games they absolutely crushed the Rangers for the majority of both. Simply getting this series to a Game 7 is a tall, tall task and if they expect to accomplish that by getting caved in for 50 of 60 minutes again it's hard to like their chances. But every Cup run has some adversity and the Blueshirts finally face a heavy dose of their own. It's must-win territory under the toughest of circumstances and New York has been the most resilient squad in NHL history. No one has had more come-from-behind wins than this year's Rangers. Now it's a series they gotta come from behind in and yeah, it might look bleak.

But it's a 7-game series. Not 5. Write off this team at your own risk. 

VIVA LA BLUESHIRTS!!!!