NEW YORK _ It was a tough ask.
Less than 24 hours after surviving a 4-1 victory in Ottawa, where the Senators outplayed them everywhere except the scoreboard, the Florida Panthers had to go through customs and face the speedy, high-powered, NHL-leading offense of the New York Rangers.
And they had to do it in Madison Square Garden, a house of horrors for the Panthers where they had lost five in a row, eight of nine and not skated off victorious since April 18, 2013. And it took an overtime and shootout to boot.
No problem as Panthers goalie James Reimer must've taken notes when watching his goalie partner Roberto Luongo's steal Saturday's win with 39 saves. Reimer bounced back from a nightmarish homecoming in Toronto and Aleksander Barkov scored the game-winner to lead the Panthers to a gutsy 3-2 shootout victory over the Rangers on Sunday night.
The Panthers, winners of four of their last five, finished off a solid 3-1 road trip where they handed the Canadiens their only loss in the Bell Centre and dealt the Rangers their first two-game losing streak of the season in the Garden where they had been 8-2.
After a thrilling, yet scoreless overtime, Reimer stuffed Mats Zuccarello and former Panthers shootout specialist Brandon Pirri while Vincent Trocheck and Barkov, utilizing a dazzling move barely slid the puck over the goal line.
After allowing six goals on 22 shots in a 6-1 loss to the Leafs, Reimer sparkled with 35 saves. The Panthers were tied at 1 after two periods despite being outshot 23-14. Just 1:45 into the third, Zuccarello's no-look spinning shot caromed off the skate of Mika Zibanejad and past Reimer. Zibenejad sustained a serious leg injury in overtime when he crashed into the boards.
The Panthers wouldn't wilt, as a suddenly hot defenseman Aaron Ekblad's innocent looking flip toward the net deflected off Rangers forward J.T. Miller and bounced over Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist (30 saves) for a 2-2 tie at 7:54. It was Ekblad's fifth goal, but third in four games.
Happy to trail just 1-0 after the first period thanks to 13 saves by Reimer, the Panthers finally got their first power play chance in four-plus periods. Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle, making his first return to the Garden since coming South over the summer, ripped a slapper from the blue line through a Colton Sceviour screened for his first goal as a Panther to end a 35-game drought. His last goal came in a Rangers jersey on March 4.
Trocheck had two assists and Barkov notched his sixth helper in his last seven games. He was taken out of the third period Saturday by an NHL spotter in the stands who ordered him to undergo a concussion evaluation but was cleared to play.
Before the game Yandle met with the New York media and said he hoped to score his first goal of the season against the salary-cap strapped Rangers, where he had played the last year-and-a-half but who never made him a serious offer before the Panthers pounced with a seven-year, $44.45 million deal.
Reimer stood tall right after the opening faceoff with four big saves. However, confusion over a line change by Panthers forward Greg McKegg opened up the ice for Derek Stepan through the neutral zone. He delivered the puck to Chris Kreider in stride, who paused before roofing a wrister for a 1-0 Rangers' lead after one.
