The Rangers picked an inopportune time to trail in a postseason series.
The Panthers rolled to a 3-2 win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final at the Garden on Thursday night, taking a 3-2 series lead to push the Rangers to the brink of elimination.
Anton Lundell broke a 1-1 tie with a goal at the 10:22 mark and Sam Bennett added insurance with an empty-netter.
Alexis Lafreniere made it a one-goal game with under a minute to go, but that’s as close the Rangers would get.
