Laviolette’s timeout refocuses Rangers in OT win
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Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporter
SUNRISE, Fla. — The New York Rangers needed a timeout.
Literally.
New York held a two-goal lead entering the third period in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Florida Panthers on Sunday and the Panthers were taking it to their opponent. Florida was dominating New York in all three zones, and when the Panthers tied the game 4-4, Rangers’ coach Peter Laviolette knew his group had to take a breath.
He called for a stoppage. Talked things out on the bench. And New York went back to work with renewed vigor, leaning on a terrific performance from goaltender Igor Shesterkin to get out of that final frame tied. The Rangers went on to win 5-4 in overtime on Alex Wennberg‘s tally.
It was the Rangers’ second overtime win in a row. They lead Florida in the best-of-seven series 2-1.
“The third was probably our toughest go in the series so far,” Laviolette said. “We’re up 4-2, we’re under siege, they were able to capitalize, and that was by far their best period. It was a pretty even game going into the third period. They got [a goal], got another one, the building was into it. So it was moving in their direction. We came out of the timeout and had three or four good shifts in a row. But they got it into overtime. Shesterkin had to make a few big saves for us. And then [came] a big goal for us in overtime to win it.”
Shesterkin was the Rangers’ backbone in a vital road win. He put in his best performance of the postseason to steal the victory while Florida threw everything it had toward the net, edging the Rangers 38-23 in shots and outchancing them 94-35 in regulation.
Some saves were more impactful than others. Shesterkin made an incredible stop on Panthers’ forward Sam Reinhart with 35 seconds left in the regulation to get New York out of the third and into a fresh overtime slate.
New York is 4-0 in overtime in the postseason.
“[Shesterkin] was our best player tonight,” center Vincent Trocheck said. “When you have a guy back there like that, you have a lot of confidence in him. He stole this game late.”
Shesterkin put on a monstrous performance early in overtime as well to keep Florida at bay. That allowed Wennberg to come through the winner and give New York an advantage, while putting the Panthers in their first series deficit of the postseason.
“They had some good chances,” Wennberg said. “You need a goalie who can help out and [Shesterkin] did more than once or twice. He did that, and it’s a good feeling to have that goalie making a difference.”
New York was behind early in Game 3 because of its own disciplinary issues.
Braden Schneider went to the box for delay of game less than two minutes into the first period and Sam Reinhart immediately capitalized with a power-play goal to give Florida a 1-0 lead.
New York wouldn’t be in that deficit for long though, with Alexis Lafreniere and Barclay Goodrow scoring just 25 seconds apart midway through the frame to make it 2-1 Rangers.
It was Reinhart making New York pay with his second power-play goal of the night to tie the game 2-2 through 20 minutes. Reinhart’s two goals on the man advantage is tied for most ever by a Panthers’ player in a postseason contest.
That four-goal first period came after a combined six goals were tallied in Games 1 and 2. But shot attempts were 30-10 Florida in the first period, and 20-10 at even strength, only underscoring how valuable Shesterkin was to keeping New York in check. While Florida made good on its power-play tries, the Rangers couldn’t do the same.
They were 0-for-2 on the night with an extra man but benefited from Goodrow’s shorthanded tally that, along with a second goal of the game from Lafreniere, gave New York its 4-2 lead going into the third period.
That’s where the Rangers would be truly tested. The Panthers pushed hard and controlled play until they’d even things on the scoresheet. Florida was all over New York, scoring two goals from Aleksander Barkov and Gustav Forsling while outshooting the Rangers 13-4 and outchancing them 40-10.
Laviolette took his timeout. That’s when the mood shifted for New York.
“It’s an up-and-down game,” Trocheck said. “[In the third] period, they had the edge again. Our team is resilient. Going into overtime, anything can happen.”
Shesterkin stood tall in the extra frame to allow New York the chance to secure a victory. Wennberg came through in the clutch.
“Really good work by him in all zones. Really smart player,” Laviolette said. “Really committed. Gave us what we needed at the time and what we were hoping for.”
In the end, the Panthers attempted 108 shots on the Rangers, and it didn’t result in a win. Florida coach Paul Maurice hopes that helps his team bounce back in Game 4 on Tuesday.
“A lot of times in the playoffs you want to make sure you keep your energy and cut off your losses,” Maurice said. “And you let it go. Then there are times you want to keep it. And eat it. And let it burn for a while. And find a different kind of energy source. When you put up what we put up tonight and don’t come up with the win, you should be a little growly.”
The New York Rangers are in advanced contract talks to make former Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan their next head coach, sources told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan and Kevin Weekes on Thursday.
The deal is expected to be one of the richest coaching contracts in NHL history, the sources said.
Sullivan would head to New York in a move that is coming together three days after he left his job with Pittsburgh, where he coached for 10 seasons and won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.
The Penguins have missed the playoffs for the past three seasons amid a retooling of the roster.
David Quinn, Sullivan’s top assistant in Pittsburgh, is not expected to join him in New York. Quinn will be a candidate for other head coaching vacancies, including Pittsburgh’s, according to sources.
John Tortorella is a strong possibility to rejoin the Rangers organization. Sullivan, Quinn and Tortorella were on the coaching staff for Team USA at Four Nations.
In New York, Sullivan would replace Peter Laviolette, who was fired after the Rangers didn’t make the postseason for the first time since 2021.
Sullivan was selected by the Rangers in the 1987 draft but never played for New York, choosing to stay in college at Boston University before going on to an 11-year NHL playing career with four teams.
Sullivan, 57, previously served as a Rangers assistant coach from 2009 to 2013 on Tortorella’s staff. He also was the head coach of the Boston Bruins for the 2003-04 and 2005-06 seasons.
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Ryan S. Clark
Winnipeg Jets coach Scott Arniel said Thursday that star center Mark Scheifele will not travel with team ahead of Game 6 against the St. Louis Blues.
Scheifele will remain in Winnipeg after he missed the second and third periods of his team’s 5-3 victory Wednesday against the Blues in Game 5 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.
“You’re hoping for the best that maybe he wakes up today and things are better,” Arniel told reporters before the team flight to St. Louis. “But right now, he won’t be making the trip, and we’ll just go day-to-day moving forward.”
With 13:51 remaining in the opening period, the Jets were in the Blues’ zone when Scheifele had just played the puck along the half wall. That’s when he was instantly checked by Blues captain Brayden Schenn. Scheifele appeared to be concentrating on the puck and looked as if he did not see Schenn, who connected with the top half of Scheifele’s chest and knocked him down to the ice.
Schenn was given a two-minute minor for interference and another two-minute minor for roughing.
A little more than 10 minutes later, Scheifele was involved in another physical sequence. He was just about to reach the Blues’ zone when forward Radek Faksa also checked him and appeared to have struck Scheifele in the same area as the previous hit from Schenn.
Scheifele finished the first period, but Arniel spoke to the officials as both teams were entering the dressing room before first intermission. Blues coach Jim Montgomery confirmed with reporters after the game that Arniel spoke to the officials about the Schenn hit before sharing his thoughts.
“Let’s make it clear: Fifty-five got hurt from the Faksa hit,” Montgomery said. “He played six minutes after the Schenn hit. He didn’t come back after he got rocked by Faksa.”
Upon hearing Montgomery’s comments, Arniel had some thoughts of his own.
“I didn’t know Monty got his medical degree and can say how our player got hurt. He’s way off base and should not make that comment,” Arniel told reporters. “There’s some things that have been going on in this series and that was a repeat of what we’ve seen before: A player leaving his feet and then hitting a player in a very unprotected spot. Like hitting him in the sense, almost blindsiding him. Not happy with how the call was made. A two-minute minor. Not even looking at it is what I was upset about.
“It is something we have talked to the league about for five games.”
On Thursday, Arniel was asked if Scheifele was in concussion protocol.
“I’m not going down that road,” Arniel said.
It’s possible that the Jets could once again turn to Vladislav Namestnikov like they did in Game 5 and elevate him to the top line. The second-line center would take Scheifele’s place on the first line alongside Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi.
Namestnikov, who had 11 goals and 38 points in 78 regular-season games, had his strongest game of the postseason in Game 5. He finished with a goal and two points while logging 17:15 of ice time.
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