Rangers Edged by the Panthers

By Daniel Feuerstein | Sunrise, FL. | April 13th, 2026

The New York Rangers entered the State of Florida to finish off their 2025-26 season as they headed to South Florida to take on the Florida Panthers. The Rangers defeated the Panthers in the Winter Classic at Loan Depot Park, then visited Madison Square Garden for an afternoon game. Now, they are looking for the sweep against the two-time Stanley Cup Champions. It was a strongly contested game, but in the end, the Panthers got the game-winner to defeat the Rangers by a final score of three to two.

Game Recap

This game was the battle of the backups as Jonathan Quick took on Danil Tarasov to see who would get the victory. The Panthers took the lead with a quick rush up the ice. There was some fancy passing between Vinnie Hinostroza and Tobias Bjornfot. When Bjornfot got the puck, he snapped it at Quick, who made the save, but he left the rebound for Cole Reinhardt to smash it in at 9:35 of the first period.

The Panthers took a two-goal lead on a blocked pass off the stick of Braden Schneider. Mackie Samoskevich used his legs to block the pass and exploded into a rush up the ice, with Schneider tracking back and trying to make a defensive play. Samoskevich reached the net, made a quick turn to his left, and fired a hard shot over the right shoulder of Quick at 11:31 of the first period.

But the Rangers were able to get on the scoreboard before the first period ended. The faceoff was at the near side faceoff circle. Noah Laba won it clean and backhanded the puck hard towards the point to Matthew Robertson, who skated a bit toward the far side and wristed a quick shot that went through everyone and past Tarasov. No one could believe that happened, and the Rangers cut the deficit in half at 15:19 of the first period.

The Rangers would tie the game late in the middle period. The Rangers skate up the ice with Alexis Lafreniere entering the Panthers’ zone at the far side. He left it to Adam Fox entering the high slot and ripped a hard shot at Tarasov, who made the stop, but the puck ricocheted toward Gabe Perreault, who was at the right place at the right time to redirect the puck into the net at 17:20 of the second period.

The Panthers would take the lead and win very late in the third period. The Rangers tried to clear the puck out of their zone, but couldn’t as the Panthers kept in play and cycled deep. From the far corner to the end boards, Donovan Sebrango gave the puck to Luke Kunin, then he saw Reinhardt skating into the faceoff circle. He passed the puck to Reinhardt, and he snapped one over the glove of Quick to take the victory at 18:10 of the third period.

Jonathan Quick’s last game

This evening at the Amerant Bank Arena, Jonathan Quick played his last game in the National Hockey League as he announced his retirement. His 19-year career started in Los Angeles with the Kings, then a trade to the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2022-23 season, and finished playing for his favorite team, the Rangers, as the Milford, Connecticut native cheered and idolized former Rangers goaltender Mike Richter as he became a goalie as well with three Stanley Cup Championships. He is also the winningest American Goaltender with 410 wins.

Before the game started, during warmups, his teammates wore Rangers jerseys with Quick’s name and number 32 on their backs to honor their teammate for the past three seasons with the Broadway Blueshirts. All members of the Florida Panthers waited for Quick to return to the ice from the locker room and get handshakes from all the players from the Florida Panthers.

Mike Sullivana’s Comments

“You know, the third period, the second half of the game, I thought we really carried the play. Uh… you know. It was a struggle to find the back of the net. I thought we had some really good looks in the third period. Um, you know. Give Florida credit. They were opportunistic. They defended hard. The chances they got, they buried them. I mean, you could hear the chatter on the bench. You know, we get that power play late in the game. And, you know, there was— talk about trying to dig in there and get one for uh— for quickie. Obviously, if we come out on the right side of that, it would have been great for him.”

JONATHAN QUICK: Made his 810th career start in his final NHL game. He finished his career as the most-winning American goaltender in NHL history and the 12th all-time.

ADAM FOX: Has tallied at least one point in nine of his last 10 games (3G-11A) and, since Mar. 25, ranks third in the league in points (16) and is tied for third in assists (12).

ALEXIS LAFRENIÈRE: Has notched four points (2G-2A) over his last four games and has collected at least one point in six of his last nine games (4G-5A). His 56 points rank third on the Rangers this season, and his 32 assists rank sixth.

RANGERS ROOKIES: Rangers rookies scored each of the two goals in tonight’s game (Gabe Perreault and Matthew Robertson). Since Mar. 2, New York rookies have scored 20 goals and have registered 45 points. In that span, the Rangers led the league in both goals and points recorded by rookies.

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