Paul Maurice evaluates Panthers after OT loss to Rangers in Game 2 of Eastern Conference final

Paul Maurice was not too upset Friday night, even with the outcome.

After all, he anticipated the game playing out the way it did.

The New York Rangers took the momentum early in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final at Madison Square Garden. That was expected to happen, given the fact Maurice’s Florida Panthers shut them out in Game 1 — a rarity for this year’s Presidents’ Trophy team, the top team in the regular season.

The Panthers fought back. That was expected, too, given the makeup of this team to never let some early pressure rattle them or force them off their game.

The Rangers got the final blow, with Barclay Goodrow scoring the game winner with 5:59 left in overtime to beat the Panthers 2-1 at Madison Square Garden and even the best-of-7 series at 1-1.

The result is what will be remembered.

But Maurice is going to shrug this one off. The veteran coach saw enough from his team on Friday and has seen enough from his team this season to know that they have the potential to right the course.

“I’m fine with tonight,” Maurice said postgame. “You shouldn’t come in and beat the Presidents’ Trophy team twice in a row. You really shouldn’t. We got that one to overtime. ... It’s an exciting series. Exciting hockey. Lots of hits. Lots of action.”

Overall, Friday’s Game 2 was a relatively even contest.

Each team scored once in the first — Vincent Trocheck opening scoring for the Rangers 4:12 into regulation and Carter Verhaeghe on the power play for the Panthers tying the game with 1:51 left in the opening frame.

Verhaeghe’s goal, his team-leading eighth of the playoffs, capped a steady Panthers counterattack after the Rangers dominated the opening minutes of play. At the first television timeout 8:17 into regulation, the Rangers had a 6-1 edge in shots on goal. Florida outshot New York 6-2 the rest of the way in the opening period.

“They were all over us in the first period,” Verhaeghe said. “They lost the first game and they had the home crowd behind them. We tried to weather it and they got one. It was a good response. To go into second tied, the game was there.”

Maurice added: “We handled it right. You didn’t see anybody trying to break the game open. There wasn’t any stretching. We didn’t go ‘Oh my God, we’re under siege. Let’s do something we haven’t done for the last two years.’ It’s pretty good to stay in it. Sometimes you’ve got to block punches, right? You can’t be throwing and swinging all the time.”

And then nothing found the back of the net for the remaining 41:51 of regulation despite some high-flying streaks throughout that time frame and the 14 minutes of over time.

Over the course of the second and third periods plus overtime, the Panthers and Rangers combined for 99 shot attempts but only 42 of those attempts (23 by New York, 19 by Florida) found the net.

The teams combined for 54 blocked shots and saw another 42 miss the net.

The teams were tied 28-28 in scoring chances throughout the game and Florida had a 13-8 edge in high-danger chances during regulation but the Rangers had the better looks in overtime — a 7-1 edge in total scoring chances, including four high-danger looks — and ultimately cashed in with Goodrow’s snap shot from the high slot after a give-and-go sequence with Trocheck as they entered the offensive zone beat Sergei Bobrovsky.

“It is what it is,” Bobrovsky said. “It’s two good teams playing hockey. They played good. They’re a good team. It’s a good win for them.”

Panthers overtime streak ends

It is worth noting, though, that Friday was the first time the Panthers have lost an overtime game in the playoffs since April 24, 2016 — when the New York Islanders beat them in the extra period to knock Florida out of that year’s playoffs.

Only three players on Florida’s current roster — captain and top-line center Aleksander Barkov, top-pairing defenseman Aaron Ekblad and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (now in his second stint with the Panthers — were on the roster for that game

The Panthers had rattled off 11 consecutive playoff victories since then, dating back to Game 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021. It was the second-longest streak in NHL history behind only a run of 14 consecutive OT wins by Montreal from 1993-1998.

Now, the Panthers head back to Sunrise with the series level. Game 3 is at 3 p.m. Sunday at Amerant Bank Arena and Game 4 is at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

“Obviously it’s tough to lose in overtime, but at the end of the day, we’re 1-1 in their building,” Ekblad said. “They came out really explosive tonight and that’s what we expected. We lost a tight game, we have to move on and we have a quick turnaround for a 3 o’clock game at home.”