Panthers, Sergei Bobrovsky shut down Rangers to take Game 1 of NHL Eastern Conference Final

NEW YORK — Sergei Bobrovsky halted the high-flying New York Rangers Wednesday night, stopping all 23 shots he faced to lead the Florida Panthers to a 3-0 win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Matthew Tkachuk put the Panthers ahead with 3:34 to go in the first period and Florida was able to hold on through a combination of strong defense and timely saves from Bobrovsky.

”He has been unbelievable all playoffs and I can’t say enough about him,” Carter Verhaeghe said of Bobrovsky. “He works so hard and he is calm back there. He has so much confidence. When we need him, he comes up big.”

Oliver Ekman-Larsson appeared to put the Panthers up by two with 11:15 to go in regulation, but the goal was called back due to goaltender interference. Florida got the goal back with 3:48 to go after a Rangers defender deflected a Verhaeghe pass past Igor Shesterkin and into his own net. The final goal came on an empty-netter.

Bobrovsky picked up his first playoff shutout since he stopped 32 shots in a 1-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final exactly a year ago to the date.

"In the postseason, you don’t think about the shutouts, the goals or anything,” Bobrovsky said. “There are only wins and losses. And that’s it. You focus on one moment at a time and you don’t think about anything else.”

Game 2 is Friday night in Boston.

Here are three takeaways from Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final:

Bobrovsky is back on the case

Even in a slow game, Bobrovsky stepped up and made timely saves when the Panthers needed him the most.

After facing just one high-danger shot in the first period, Bobrovsky started the second period under fire, facing three quality chances from the Rangers. He came up with saves on all of them.

Then came the third period. New York nearly doubled its shot total form 11 to 23 and poured on the quality chances in droves. Bobrovsky came up with save after save to keep the Panthers on top.

”The interesting thing about Sergei is that he is still learning,” coach Paul Maurice said of the 35-year-old veteran. “In the Tampa series, there were blocks of time without shots and then its [Nikita] Kucherov. It would spike. They would get two or three great chances. … I think you have to be a veteran goalie to do what he did tonight. Sit for a while, make huge saves, and then there’s the last 10 minutes of the game. That’s where he has to be Sergei.”

Florida's new-look second line pays off again

After his standout performance in Game 6 of the Bruins series, the Panthers opted to keep Anton Lundell on the second line next to Tkachuk and Verhaeghe. That decision paid off Wednesday.

Lundell drove that line at times, being disruptive on the forecheck, causing chaos near the front of the net and setting up Verhaeghe and Tkachuk for multiple quality chances.

He didn’t get a point, but his line scored both of Florida’s goals at 5-on-5 and they helped seal the game away.

“He played one hell of a game,” Maurice said. “He’s a plus-three and there’s some leadership going on there, too. What makes Matthew Tkachuk special is that you can take a guy that’s kind of coming into his third year, give them that shot, and he’s encouraging that kid on the bench, he’s directing, he’s intense with him.”

Panthers penalty killing unit shuts down Rangers' power play

The Rangers came into the series with one of the most dangerous power plays in the postseason - a 31.4 clip (3rd) and the second-most goals of any team in the playoffs (11).

More: Five Reasons why Florida Panthers can win the Stanley Cup championship as playoffs near

Florida shut that down pretty quickly, holding New York without a goal on four shots on both of its power plays. The Panthers' aggressive style disturbed the Rangers’ usually efficient puck movement and stymied them completely on the first go-around and held them to low-quality shots from the outside on the second one.

That held up as the key to shutting them down when the Panthers killed off a penalty with just under five minutes to go before extending their lead to two goals less than two minutes later.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Panthers blank New York Rangers behind goalie Sergei Bobrovsky