Since it has been almost since the day the blue shirt was thrown, Artemi Panarin was at the center of it all. This included a goal and a couple of assists during the first two periods of the Garden Monday game against the Flyers.
It also included a tricky play in overtime that twisted and led directly to Jakub Voracek’s breakaway winner at 3:47 to give Philadelphia a 5-4 victory in a game in which the Blueshirts were half careless, half-urgent and, well, not very capable of getting it all despite having maintained 3-2 and 4-3 advantages
Want to give the Blueshirts a participation trophy for coming closer after learning they should play without Adam Fox, Pavel Buchnevich and Phil Di Giuseppe, who were on the COVID-19 protocol list? Be our guest. Actually, that’s what the loser’s point represents, right?
The first period was predictably unfortunate after the cancellation of the morning skate for protection reasons, after the Blueshirts had been on Sunday. But after going down 2-0, the Rangers got it and seemed to have the Flyers running away after Panarin scored a goal and two assists in his team’s first three goals.
It was as if Panarin had never missed these nine games after getting a leave of absence as a result of those unfounded assault allegations that were imposed on him. It was actually like it was 2019-2020 again, with the Russian Rockette dictating and creating as it progressed.
Panarin spoke to the press for the first time since the allegations were filed by Andrei Nazarov on February 22, but delayed comment on the issue.
“It’s probably not the time to debate it,” Panarin said through a translator. “I have nothing to hide. I’m going to try everything after the season, but right now the focus is on the game and not on these discussions.
Okay, so let’s focus on Panarin’s game, which hasn’t lost a beat. In fact, the number 10 has even seemed revived after losing nine games, propelling the play with pace and accuracy.
“I didn’t really change my routine. Maybe I rested more, “Panarin said when asked about preparing for his return.” Maybe that’s the lesson you should sometimes rest on and play better. “
If Panarin was referring to load management, maybe that was what the Blueshirts took advantage of during the first period when Keith Kinkaid was too hesitant to defend the team that had been completely off the ice since 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 to goals from Panarin, Colin Blackwell and Julien Gauthier, the latter impressed with the record but also in the penalty box three different moments by carelessness.
One minute, you just can’t understand how David Quinn could scratch the 23-year-old winger, as the coach has done seven times. The next minute you don’t understand how Quinn could ever play him, even in a reconstruction.
The 3-2 score was erased at 18:36 of the second when Joel Farabee scored a goal with Gauthier in the area. And after Kevin Rooney gave the Blueshirts a 4-3 lead early in the third, Voracek tied a game-winning goal at 5:33 with Gauthier in the front end box of a minor double with plenty of ‘tie.
The Rangers played with spirit. They had a strong lead in the territorial game, Mika Zibanejad was assertive, Chris Kreider was the pilot of the net, but there were still too many mistakes and too many missed chances. This was a game the Rangers seemed to have taken advantage of. But not at all.
Panarin, who tried to eliminate Kinkaid’s soft overtime, tried to get past Voracek on the left boards, but failed to do so, allowing the Flyers’ end to enter the goalkeeper alone, opting for focus on the positive.
“I was very happy that the team, unlike at the beginning of the year, had not gone eagerly and came back after giving up a couple of goals,” said No. 10. “We didn’t have that quality at the beginning of the season. This quality is increasingly shown. He did it tonight and I’m very happy with the answer. “