Reinhart’s Overtime Goal Leads Panthers to Game 4 Win – Hockey Writers – Florida Panthers
Sam Reinhart scored on the power play before overtime to give the Florida Panthers a 3-2 victory to even the Eastern Conference Final series at two games apiece.
It was the fastest goal from the start of overtime in Panthers franchise playoff history. The previous benchmark was 1:51, set by Matthew Tkachuk (Game 2 of 2023 CF).
Vincent Trochek opened the scoring with a goal in the first half and is now one of 20 points in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He will become the second fastest player in franchise history to reach 20 in the postseason behind Brian Leetch (12 GP in 1994).
The Panthers responded with two goals from Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe in the second half. Verhaeghe (3-3—6 in 4 GP) now has the second most points by a Panthers player in the conference finals, behind only Dave Lowry against the Penguins in 1996 (3-4—7 in 7 GP).
The Rangers tied the game in the third period on a goal by Alexei Lafreniere and became the fifth player in franchise history with seven goals in the postseason before age 23, joining Alex Kovalev in 1994 (9-12-21 in 23 GP) , Filip Chytil in 2022 (7-2—9 in 20 GP), Don Maloney in 1979 (7-13—20 in 18 GP) and Don Murdoch in 1979 (7-5—12 in 18 GP) .
News and notes
Game 4 was Sergei Bobrovsky’s 17th overtime win. That moves him into a tie with Martin Brodeur and Billy Smith for fourth in NHL history.
Trocheck has points in 10 of 13 playoff games and multiple points in eight contests. His eight multi-point playoff games are the second most in franchise history in one playoff year behind Leetch (9 GP in 1994) and ranks second in the NHL this year.
Trocheck’s seven goals are tied for fifth in the NHL while his 18 points are tied for fourth. Earlier in the postseason, he tied the franchise record (Cecil Dillon in 1933) for longest hitting streak in a postseason with five and established a Rangers record with four consecutive playoff games with a power play goal.
With his assist on Verhaeghe’s goal, Tkachuk (5-14—19 in 15 GP) is one point away from joining Craig Janney (1990-91), Kevin Stevens (1991-92), Mike Modano (1999-00), Patrick. Kane (2014-15), Phil Kessel (2016-17) and Jake Guentzel (2017-18) as only US-born players to record 20 or more points in consecutive postseasons.
The two teams will meet again on Thursday, May 30, at Madison Square Garden.
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