As it was pretty much the day he shot on Blueshirt, Artemi Panarin was in the middle of it all. That included a goal and a pair of assists in the first two periods of Monday’s match against Garden against Flyers.
It also included a stingy move in overtime, which broke down and led directly to Jakub Voracek’s separatist winner at 3:47 to give Philadelphia a 5-4 victory in a game in which the Blueshirts have was half careless, half urgent and, well, not quite able to do it, despite having 3-2 and 4-3 leads
Do you want to give the Blueshirts a participation trophy because they are approaching after learning that they should play without Adam Fox, Pavel Buchnevich and Phil Di Giuseppe, who were included in the COVID-19 protocol list? Be our guest. Actually, that’s the point, right?
The first period was predictably miserable, after the morning skate was canceled for protection reasons, after the Blueshirts had been switched off on Sunday. But after coming down 2-0, the Rangers picked it up and looked like the Flyers had run away after Panarin scored a goal and two assists in his team’s first three goals.
It was as if Panarin had never missed those nine games after taking leave following those baseless allegations of assault. In fact, it was like 2019-20 again, with Russian Rockette dictating and creating as it went.
Panarin spoke to the press for the first time since the accusations were made by Andrei Nazarov on February 22, but postponed comment on the issue.
“This is probably not the time to talk,” Panarin said through a translator. “I have nothing to hide. I will address everything after the season, but right now, the focus is on the game and not on these discussions.”
OK, then let’s move the focus to Panarin’s game, which didn’t miss a beat. In fact, the number 10 seems even revived after missing nine games, leading the game with pace and accuracy.
“I did not really change my routine. Maybe I rested more, “Panarin said when asked about preparing for his return. “Maybe that’s the lesson that sometimes you should rest and play better.”
If Panarin was handling the cargo, that’s probably what the Blueshirts took advantage of in the early days when Keith Kinkaid himself was too shaky to support the team that had been completely off the ice on Saturday and looked like that.
But the Blueshirts picked up the pace and played with energy and urgency during the second period, winning a 3-2 lead over goals from Panarin, Colin Blackwell and Julien Gauthier, the latter impressing with the puck, but also , was in the penalty spot three times different for negligence.
In a minute, you just can’t understand how David Quinn could scratch the 23-year-old wing, as the coach did seven times. The next minute you don’t understand how Quinn could ever play him, even in a rebuild.
The 3-2 lead was erased at 18:36 in the second, when Joel Farabee scored a power-play goal with Gauthier in the box. And after Kevin Rooney gave Blueshirts a 4-3 lead early in the third, Voracek equalized on a power goal at 5:33, with Gauthier in the box in front of a minor double. high strength.
The rangers played with spirit. They had a strong advantage in the territorial game, Mika Zibanejad was assertive, Chris Kreider led the net, but there were still too many blunders and too many missed opportunities. This was a game that the Rangers seemed to grab. But not really.
Panarin, who tried to get through Kinkaid’s extended overtime, tried to get past Voracek on the left panels, but failed to do so, allowing the Flyers’ winger to enter the goalkeeper on his own, chose to focus. on the positive.
“I was very happy that the team, unlike at the beginning of the year, did not go down in spirit and came back after giving up a few goals,” said the number 10. “I did not have this quality at the beginning of the season. This quality is appearing more and more. He did it tonight and I’m very happy with the answer. ”