Unhappy return

Rangers fall as Panthers net 3 in third

SUNRISE, Fla. — MacKenzie Weegar, Carter Verhaeghe and Anthony Duclair scored in the third period to rally the Panthers past the Rangers, 4-3, on Wednesday night as both teams returned from an extended holiday break.

Artemi

Panarin and

Mika Zibanejad each picked up a goal and an assist for the Rangers. Chris Kreider also scored and Igor Shesterkin, back in net after missing eight games with a lower-body injury, stopped 28 shots.

Anton Lundell also scored for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 shots.

Weegar fired a wrist shot high to Shesterkin’s stick side for his first goal of the season, tying it, 2-2, at 5:56 of the third.

Verhaeghe netted the go-ahead goal with a wrist shot from the left circle at 10:31.

Duclair’s goal, his 10th, gave the Panthers a 4-2 advantage at 14:40.

Kreider scored at 19:15 after the Rangers pulled Shesterkin for an extra skater.

It was the Panthers’ first game in 13 days and the Rangers’ first in 12 following the NHL’s extended Christmas break because of rising COVID-19 cases. The Rangers went ahead, 2-1, at 12:43 of the second period when Zibanejad scored his eighth goal by firing in a feed from Panarin.

“The second was the best period by far for us. We dominated, I thought. Played really strong hockey,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “And then the third, we just didn’t seem to have the (same) energy as we did in the second.”

Lundell scored off a rebound to tie it, 1-1, at 5:09 of the second. It was the rookie’s sixth goal.

Panarin scored his 10th goal to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 11:08 of the first. Panarin, shadowed by defenseman Aaron Ekblad as he skated toward the net, pulled the puck between his legs before slipping a soft backhand past Bobrovsky.

“I practiced it the last three days,” Panarin said of the move. “I saw the world (junior) championships and saw a couple of young guys do it, and I remember Kreider doing it pretty well. I realized, ‘Why I’m not doing it?’ ”

Six of seven Panthers who had been in COVID-19 protocol returned. Sam Bennett, Ekblad, Radko Gudas, Ryan Lomberg, Brandon Montour and Verhaeghe all played. Frank Vatrano was scratched. Florida also welcomed back Aleksander Barkov, Maxim Mamin and Mason Marchment from injuries, and Gus Forsling from a non-COVID-19 illness.