SUNRISE, Fla. — Carter Verhaeghe tilted his head back in disbelief as the New York Rangers finally completed their comeback and took a lead on the Florida Panthers in the third period. It was a stunning around, both because of how dominant the Panthers once looked and because of how the Rangers’ go-ahead goal happened. Verhaeghe, Florida’s leading goal scorer, reached out his stick to try to deflect a cross and instead redirected right past Sergei Bobrovsky to give New York its first lead of the game in the third period.
It has been this kind of season for the Panthers — one full of self-inflected wounds and unfortunate breaks — and their 4-3 loss to the Rangers on Saturday in Sunrise was perhaps their most vexing yet.
It also could be the one to finally crush their hopes at sneaking into the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.
