Shesterkin makes 26 saves in Rangers’ 3-1 victory over Panthers

NEW YORK (AP) — Adam Sykora broke a scoreless tie early in the third period and Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves and the New York Rangers defeated the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Sunday.

Sykora, a rookie who was a second-round pick in 2022, scored his second goal of the season at 5:10, tipping Adam Fox’s shot past Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

Conor Sheary then scored his fifth of the season — on a short-handed breakaway — at 11:14 before Fox added an empty-netter at 16:06.

Sykora also scored in the Rangers’ 6-1 win against Chicago on Friday. The Rangers are just 11-18-7 at home this season.

Florida’s Mackie Samoskevich scored with 40.2 seconds left to end Shesterkin’s shutout bid.

New York nearly scored late in the second when Mika Zibanejad’s shot with 1:35 left skittered along the goal line before Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling cleared it out.

Florida appeared to take the lead at 3:22 of the third when Matthew Tkachuk scored on a breakaway, but the Rangers challenged and the play was ruled offside.

Florida was coming off a 5-2 loss at the New York Islanders on Saturday in which Tkachuk scored both goals.

Up next

Panthers: host Ottawa on Tuesday.

Rangers: host New Jersey on Tuesday.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up