Jesper Boqvist scores twice as Panthers beat Rangers 5-3 after back-to-back scoreless games

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Jesper Boqvist scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the third, and the Florida Panthers beat the New York Rangers 5-3 on Monday night.

Eetu Luostarinen, Aleksander Barkov and Mackie Samoskevich also scored for Florida, and Uvis Balinskis had two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves.

Florida took a 3-2 lead off Boqvist’s goal in the second when he found a loose puck and knocked it into the open net with a scrambling Igor Shesterkin out of position. New York’s Chris Kreider tied it with a power-play goal 5:19 into the third.

Filip Chytil and Ryan Lindgren also scored for New York. Shesterkin stopped 21 shots, and Adam Fox got his 27th assist of the season.

Luostarinen tipped Gustav Forsling’s shot past Shesterkin 3:04 into the first to break Florida’s two-game scoreless streak.

Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) defends the goal against New York Rangers left wing Brett Berard (65) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Takeaways

Rangers: The Rangers have lost seven of their past eight games and are 4-15 in their past 19.

Panthers: The Panthers stopped a two-game losing streak in which they were shutout in consecutive home games.

Key moment

Boqvist scored a rebound with 8:22 left in the game for his first multi-goal game of the season, assisted by his brother Adam Boqvist.

Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) defends against a shot-attempt on goal by New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck (16) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Key stat

With his assist on Kreider’s goal, Artemi Panarin became the 14th Ranger to record 500 points for the franchise, and he was the fastest to do it in 384 games.

Up next

Both teams are back in action Thursday night. The Rangers host Boston, while the Panthers host Carolina.