Bad start, bad finish, and the streaks are over.
Despite a fierce comeback after a rough first period in which Henrik Lundqvist was pulled, the Rangers fell to the Florida Panthers, 5-4, on Tuesday, snapping a four-game winning streak overall and an eight-game run of victories at Madison Square Garden.
With 1:09 left in regulation, Denis Malgin’s tiebreaking goal, when Nick Holden couldn’t clear the zone, went past Ondrej Pavelec to end a wild affair in which the Rangers came back from 3-0 and 4-1 deficits but were unable to secure a point..
After falling behind in the first, when the Panthers scored three times on six shots, prompting coach Alain Vigneault to yank Lundqvist after 16:47 in favor of Pavelec, it looked bleak for the Blueshirts.