Malgin Drills Late Goal To Lift Panthers Over Rangers

NEW YORK (AP) — Denis Malgin scored with 1:09 left and the Florida Panthers recovered after giving up two three-goal leads to beat the New York Rangers 5-4 Tuesday night.

Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and an assist, and Aleksander Barkov, Jamie McGinn and Micheal Haley also scored for Florida. James Reimer finished with 33 saves.

On the winning goal, Malgin fired a shot from the inside edge of the left circle to beat Rangers goalie Ondrej Pavelec for his first of the season.

Chris Kreider had two goals and an assist, Pavel Buchnevich added a goal and two assists, and J.T. Miller also scored for the Rangers, who snapped an eight-game winning streak at home and lost for just the third time in their last 13 games overall. David Desharnais had three assist to help New York tie it after trailing 3-0 and 4-1.

Rangers starter Henrik Lundqvist gave up three goals on six shots before he was pulled late in the first period. Pavelec came on and stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced.

New York was playing without defenseman and captain Ryan McDonagh for the fourth straight game, and leading-scorer Mika Zibanejad was a late scratch due to an upper body injury.

With Florida leading 4-3, Reimer denied a backhand attempt by Jimmy Vesey about 5 1/2 minutes into the third and Boo Nieves couldn't convert on a pass in front. Rick Nash then hit a post about 9 minutes in.

Kreider then tied it with his second goal of the game and 10th of the season with 6:32 remaining as he got a pass from Desharnais from the right side of the net and poked it past Reimer.

Miller pulled the Rangers to 3-1 at 4:04 of the second. Mats Zuccarello's initial shot from the left side deflected off a Panthers defenseman's stick and Miller fired it past Reimer for his fourth.

Huberdeau restored the Panthers' three-goal lead about 4 1/2 minutes later as he beat Pavelec after a scramble in front.

The Rangers then scored twice in a 1:50 span to pull within one. First, Kreider came from behind the net on the right side and passed it in front to Buchnevich, who tapped it past Reimer from the left side for his ninth at 9:26. Buchnevich then sent a pass from the right side to a streaking Kreider in front and he put it past Reimer for his ninth with 8:44 remaining in the middle period to make it 4-3.

Kevin Hayes appeared to tie it with 4:11 to go in the second, but the officials waved off the goal for goaltender interference due to incidental contact by Nash on Reimer. Rangers coach Alain Vigneault challenged the interference call, but it stood after a video review.

The Rangers appeared to have the better scoring chances in the first period while outshooting the Panthers 13-6, but trailed 3-0.

With the Rangers' Brady Skjei off for interference, Barkov got Florida on the scoreboard on a deflection 5:50 into the game. Jonathan Huberdeau fired a shot from the top of the left circle and the puck appeared to deflect off New York defenseman Brendan Smith's skate, off Barkov and in for his eighth on the Panthers' first shot on goal.

McGinn doubled Florida's lead at 9:34, firing a shot from outside the left circle past Lundqvist's blocker side for his fourth.

Haley then made it 3-0 with 3:13 left, firing the puck past Lundqvist from the left circle for his first of the season.

Lundqvist, who started for the 13th straight game, was then pulled with with Pavelec coming on for his second appearance since Oct. 28 at Montreal.

NOTES: During pregame warmups, the Rangers wore lavender jerseys and some players used sticks with lavender tape in honor of Hockey Fights Cancer Night. The items will be signed by players and auctioned off on the NHL's website to raise money for the Garden of Dreams Foundation. ... Kreider now has 99 goals and 99 assists in his career. ... New York won the first meeting, 5-4 in OT at Florida on Nov. 4. The teams will conclude the season series March 10 at Florida. ... Panthers D Keith Yandle played in his 658th consecutive game, moving 21 behind Vancouver's Henrik Sedin for seventh place in NHL history. Yandle had two assists against his former team, giving him two goals and six assists in 13 games this month. ... After appearing in nine of the Panthers' first 12 games, Reimer was playing for just the third time in 12 game since Nov. 2.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Host San Jose on Friday night.

Rangers: Host Carolina on Friday night.

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