SUNRISE, Fla. _ Given the fact that the Rangers hadn't played in six days, it probably would have been reasonable to expect them to begin Saturday's game against the Florida Panthers a little sluggishly.
Instead, they took an early two-goal lead, then kept exchanging goals as they tried to hang on for dear life.
In the end, it was Kevin Hayes _ playing the wing as part of a grand experiment by coach David Quinn _ who played the role of hero. He beat Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo to give the Rangers a 5-4 shootout victory in the opener of their two-game trip to Florida.
Hayes, who assisted on the Rangers' first two goals _ both in the first period _ beat Luongo with the third shot of the tiebreaker.
All three Rangers shooters _ Mika Zibanejad, Kevin Shattenkirk and Hayes _ scored. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist stopped the first Panthers shooter, Aleksander Barkov, and allowed a goal on the next attempt, by Jonathan Huberdeau.
The Panthers closed out an eight-game homestand, their longest of the season, at 3-2-3. Luongo made 22 saves.
With six days between games and his team in a 1-4-1 skid, Quinn felt the need to try something different. His big idea was to put the team's top three scorers together on the same line, which meant moving Hayes, usually the team's No. 2 centerman, to right wing so he and No. 1 center Zibanejad could play on the same line along with Chris Kreider.
"We're in a little bit of a rut, and it's nice to have a big line, figuratively and literally," Quinn said of his experiment. "And I just want to see what it looks like. I'm just curious."
The line _ and Hayes in particular _ looked pretty good from the opening faceoff.
Zibanejad got the Rangers on the board at 3:37 of the first period, slamming in the rebound of a shot by Hayes, and Hayes set up Vladislav Namestnikov's shorthanded goal at 18:10 that made it 2-0.
A penalty to Marc Staal 11 seconds into the second period gave the Panthers their third power play of the game and they cashed in when former Ranger Keith Yandle beat Lundqvist (27 saves) with a one-timer from the right point 57 seconds into the period.
Then a turnover in the neutral zone by Tony DeAngelo led to Huberdeau going the other way on a two-on-one, and he tied the score at 4:14 when he beat Lundqvist with a wrister from the left faceoff dot that Lundqvist probably should have stopped.
The goalie hung his head after the puck slid between his pads.
The Rangers seemed to regain control when fourth-liner Matt Beleskey tipped Brady Skjei's left point shot past Luongo at 6:28.
Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad tied it at 3-3 when he took a pass from Huberdeau and finished a three-on-one break at 18:20.
Defenseman Fredrik Claesson's second goal of the season put the Rangers back in front at 1:32 of the third period (he also had his first assist of the season).
But with Zibanejad in the box for a tripping penalty, the Panthers tied it at 4 on a goal by Barkov at 10:51.
The Blueshirts will travel to Tampa to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.
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