THIRD REEL
Rangers fall to Panthers after allowing 3 goals in final period
SUNRISE, Fla. — The Rangers stole two points from the Panthers in the teams’ first meeting in November, but Florida swiped them right back on Wednesday.
Competing in their first game in 12 days, against a Panthers squad that was nearly fully healthy for the first time in a while, the Rangers hung in through 40 minutes — and even tested the home team — before Florida buried three goals in the third period to take a 4-3 victory at FLA Live Arena.
It was the second time this season the Rangers surrendered three goals in the third period to the Panthers, except they didn’t get away with it this time.
“We deserved a point probably,” head coach Gerard Gallant said after the loss, which dropped the Rangers to 19-8-4. “And probably the same thing in the last game we played them [at Madison Square Garden], they probably deserved two points or one out of [our] building. So it happens, but I’m happy with the way our team came out to play tonight.”
With a one-goal lead at the start of the final period, the Rangers watched as the Panthers poured six shots on goal in the first six minutes of the frame. It was on the seventh that MacKenzie Weegar found the back of the net for his first goal of the season to knot the game 2-2.
The Rangers then suddenly lost the shoot-first mentality they seemingly had for a majority of the game, stopped pushing the pace and became a bit sloppy with the puck. Plus, they reverted back to their too-many-passes habit.
That’s when Florida forwards Carter Verhaeghe and Anthony Duclair were able to each score a goal in the span of 4:09 to secure the victory, which snapped a three-game losing skid for the Panthers.
With 44.4 seconds left in regulation, Chris Kreider chipped in a goal to lessen the deficit.
“You don’t want it to happen, I mean, it happens,” defenseman Jacob Trouba said of the blown lead. “That’s part of life in the NHL. I don’t think it’s too much to dwell on. That’s a really good team, we played a good game for the most part. Correct some mistakes we made toward the end in the third period there and we’ll be fine.”
Leading the Rangers with a goal and an assist each, Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad returned to the ice on a high note after the holiday recess. Panarin recorded his 10th multipoint game of the season, while Zibanejad has now notched two or more points in three straight contests.
In the second frame, Panarin swiped the puck from Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas and connected with Zibanejad for Zibanejad’s eighth tally of the season and the 2-1 lead at 12:43.
The Rangers didn’t put much stock into the fact that they had, once again, given up three thirdperiod goals to the Panthers. Gallant pointed to the Rangers’ battle level and no-quit attitude as the silver lining.
“The third period didn’t start well,” Gallant said. “That four-onfour, I thought we were a little looser and we just didn’t get our traction after that. The second was the best period by far for us, dominated I thought and played really strong hockey.
“In the third, we just didn’t seem to have the same energy that we did in the second.”
Every Friday night, Maryland head coach Mike Locksley’s bed-check routine included encouraging senior wide receiver Darryl Jones to have a big game. Jones saved his best for last.
Jones, who had not scored in four seasons with the Terrapins, caught touchdown passes of 70 and 32 yards in Maryland’s 54-10 laugher over Virginia Tech in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.
“I’ll definitely remember this because I’ll tell this story for I don’t know how many years,” Jones said of his four-reception, 111-yard performance after he finished the regular season with 208 receiving yards. “But it’s definitely special.”
This was Maryland’s first bowl victory since 2010 and the first bowl game appearance for the senior class after the Terrapins won five games combined in 2019 and 2020.
“We’ve been waiting for a long time for a game like this. It’s only fitting that he would get it in his last game as a Terrapin,” Locksley said. “I’m really happy for Darryl that he was able to finish on such a strong game.”
Terrapins quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa completed 20 of 24 passes for 265 yards and the two touchdown passes to Jones. The younger brother of Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa tied a Maryland single-season record with 26 TD passes, set by Scott Milanovich in 1993.
Tarheeb Still opened the scoring for Maryland with a 92-yard punt return, a school record. The defense also got in on the action, with Greg Rose recovering a fumble and taking it 11 yards for a score after Nick Cross sacked Virginia Tech quarterback Connor Blumrick.
Maryland set a school record for points in a bowl game. The previous mark was set in a 51-20 win over East Carolina in the 2010 Military Bowl, the Terrapins’ last bowl win before Wednesday.
The Terrapins (7-6) ended the season on a high note after starting 4-0 before six losses in seven games.
Virginia Tech finished 6-7, with interim head coach J.C. Price going 2-3 after the school fired Justin Fuente.
The first of Jones’ two touchdowns came early in the second quarter, when Tagovailoa launched a pass the receiver caught in stride inside the Virginia Tech 30 before outrunning two defenders the rest of the way. Before that Tagovailoa’s first five completions had gone for a total of 12 yards.
Jones said when he caught the pass, he wasn’t thinking about playing his first bowl game at Yankee Stadium or his first touchdown.
“I’m just like, ‘Let’s keep going,’ ” Jones said.
In the third quarter, facing a fourth-and-4 from the Hokies’ 32, Tagovailoa moved around and found a wide-open Jones at the 25. Jones made a defender miss, then went the rest of the way for his second touchdown.
“This is a long time coming,” Tagovailoa said. “When you see Darryl run routes, it just pops out to you.”
The quarterback called Jones a hard worker. “I think that’s the way he leads,” Tagovailoa said. “Not talking, just working.”
Jones said his preparation was the same for the Pinstripe Bowl as it was for every other game.
“It was just my time has come,” Jones said.
MARYLAND 54 VA. TECH 10 Pinstripe Bowl
➤ Just under 30,000 fans — 29,653 to be exact — were at Yankee Stadium. The game was canceled last year due to COVID-19.
Virginia Tech’s fans made more noise during the team introductions as the team came out to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” familiar in The Bronx for being Mariano Rivera’s entrance music coming out of the Yankees bullpen. The Hokies also wore an interlocking NY on one side of their traditional helmets. The Yankees visited Virginia Tech in 2008 for an exhibition game to help the university heal after the tragic school shooting the previous year.