Rangers-Panthers set to create Florida memories — and they’re likely to be physical

NHL

By Larry Brooks

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Rangers and Panthers have played a slew of games down here since the Puddy Tats moved to this outpost for the 1998-99 season, and maybe one of them was noteworthy.

That would have been the Feb. 16, 2000, contest in which Brian Leetch moved up from defense to play left wing for the only time in No. 2’s career. John Muckler, then the head coach, wanted Leetch to match up against and shadow right winger Pavel Bure, the most explosive and compelling player in the league.

Bure did not score while on the ice against Leetch, who logged 23:47 of ice time. The “Russian Rocket” did, however, score his league-leading 41st goal in Florida’s 57th game, at 7:46 of the first period for the 1-0 goal in a 3-0 game when Jan Hlavac failed to change on the fly when Bure hopped on.

Best laid plans and all that.

One year shy of a quarter of a century later, there will be significant Rangers-Panthers games here, and they will be Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference Final, the first coming up Sunday afternoon. They will produce memories more substantial than the aforementioned curiosity from the darkest age in Blueshirts history.

This is a whole other matter. The Rangers are in the embryonic stages of constructing a group that will have staying power. They continue to establish themselves as a meat-and-potatoes team with a gilded touch of flair that can grind with heavier teams like Carolina and Florida.

Friday’s Game 2 response was will paired with skill. It is appropriate that Barclay Goodrow got the overtime winner in a game that turned nasty because he is the most intrinsically mean and nasty player on the Rangers — I mean that with affection.

Here’s the issue going forward: Malevolence is in the Panthers’ blood. They come in high; they come in hard; they come in with a purpose. They’re big. If Dmitry Kulikov and Ryan Lomberg were not aiming for Alex Wennberg’s and Jimmy Vesey’s head, respectively, they could have fooled a lot of folks. There is Nick Cousins, always on the prowl. There is the specter of Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk. Their defensemen don’t let up.

This is who they are.

I’m not sure this is who the Rangers are, though I know they will try to adopt the physical pose they brought onto the ice and sustained for the 74:01 it took to decide Game 2. This is not a question about heart or commitment. I just wonder if they are built for this kind of hockey combat against a formidable foe that thrives on it.

There is Goodrow, sneaky mean during the season and not so sneaky now, who is made for this. Jacob Trouba, who fittingly sprung the rush that decided the match on a spectacular outlet with Lomberg racing at him on the forecheck, is a mean one who is made for this. Ryan Lindgren always plays with an edge and is made for this. We know what Matt Rempe is about, and we have seen that Will Cuylle will never turn away from a hit. There is a reason Braden Schneider has been known as “Baby Troubs.”

And boy, did Erik Gustafsson join every scrum as quickly as he could on Friday, brokering no guff. Oh yes, and the rambunctious Alexis Lafreniere had a hello moment with Carter Verhaeghe smashing the always-dangerous No. 23 to ice to create the Rangers’ first goal. And yes, Chris Kreider was credited with five hits, and Adam Fox, who sure seems impaired, had a snarl in his step throughout.

Maybe the Rangers can go toe-to-toe with the Big Bad Puddy Tats. But it would sure help if they could get their power play working. I give them enormous credit for gutting out Friday and for their marquee guys strapping on their hard hats when things were not exactly clicking and the Blueshirts seemed as though they were hanging on for dear life during large portions of the match.

But the Rangers live large on their power-play production. It moves the needle. It puffs them up. Igor Shesterkin separates them, but so does the PP1 unit. The Blueshirts will be in a physical slog with the Panthers forever if they cannot break away by sprinkling in a power-play goal or two here and there.

It’s not only these last two games over which the Rangers went 0-for-6 in 11:14 while getting 10 shots on Sergei Bobrovsky, The next-level power play has actually gone 1-for-16 over the last six games and is 1-for-21 since the middle of Game 2 against Carolina, and why hasn’t Vincent Trocheck taken a PP offensive-zone draw against the Panthers?

I can tell you if I am not certain that the Rangers can sustain the level of physicality necessary to advance, I am certain that a dysfunctional power play is not sustainable for this team.

There is heavy lifting ahead. There are memories to be made down here by the Rangers.