Three takeaways as Panthers push Rangers to brink of elimination

The Panthers now have a plus-13 goal differential in the third period of games this postseason.

2. The Rangers still need more from their stars

Entering Game 5 on Thursday, the Rangers had received zero combined goals from their top three forwards:  Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad.

While Kreider did end up breaking out with a big shorthanded goal to open the scoring, they were still mostly quiet as a trio. That has to change if the Rangers are going to have a chance to win the next two games and make their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since the 2014 season. 

Add in the struggles of top defenseman Adam Fox, as well as the continued penalties and turnovers from captain Jacob Trouba, and the Rangers' highest-paid players are not giving them enough.

The lone exception to that remains starting goalie Igor Shesterkin, who has still been mostly magnificent even in defeat. He is giving them a chance every night against a team that looks superior across the board. 

3. Panthers' penalty kill comes through again

This might be one of the biggest series-changers. Coming into the Eastern Conference Final, the Rangers' power play was the driving force behind a large portion of their offense all season. They had one of the best power plays in the league during the regular season, and were dominating through the first two rounds. It was one of the biggest reasons they beat the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round and could have been a big X-factor in this series.

It has been. Just not for the expected reason.

The Panthers have successfully killed off 92.3 percent of their shorthanded situations in this series, and were perfect on Thursday night. That included a huge penalty kill midway through the third period to keep the Rangers' power play off the board just minutes before Lundell scored his go-ahead goal.