NEW YORK – Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves for his 400th career win, and the Florida Panthers defeated the New York Rangers 3-1.
Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe scored early first-period goals for Florida. Lundell opened the scoring 44 seconds in, beating Igor Shesterkin alone in the slot. Verhaeghe added to the Panthers’ lead at the 2:42 mark.
Alexis Lafreniere scored 4:44 into the game to halve Florida’s early lead, but it was the only time New York beat Bobrovsky. Sam Bennett gave the Panthers a two-goal lead 6:59 into the second period.
Florida held on to win in a rematch of last spring´s Eastern Conference Final, which the Panthers won in six games.
Shesterkin finished with 26 saves for the Rangers.
The Rangers lost in regulation for the first time after a 5-0-1 start, AP reported.
The Panthers improved to 3-2-0 on the road after finishing with an Eastern Conference-best 26-10-5 away record last season.
Bobrovsky denied Rangers forward Jonny Brodzinski on a breakaway at 5:47 of the first, then made a pad save on Filip Chytil at 6:35. He also stopped Chris Kreider from in close at 15:20 of the opening period.
Bobrovsky became the 14th goaltender in NHL history to reach the 400-win milestone.
The 36-year-old netminder, in his sixth season with the Panthers, has a career record of 400-226-56 in 15 seasons. Bobrovsky is the fastest goaltender to win 400 games, reaching the milestone in 707 contests.
He needs two wins to pass Chris Osgood for 13th on the all-time wins list.
Rangers forward Artemi Panarin entered the game leading the team with 13 points, including six goals. He was awarded a late assist on New York’s only goal in an official scoring change.
