Penguins Update: Let’s Get Physical (Part Two)
During Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final on Wednesday night, Florida whitewashed the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers by a score of 3-0.
Fueling the Panthers’ victory was a fast, physical forecheck. Armed with to the teeth with kamikaze-style forwards such as Sam Bennett, Ryan Lomberg and Matthew Tkachuk, the visitors softened up the Blueshirts’ defense to the tune of 14 hits, including three each on prime puck-movers Adam Fox and Erik Gustafsson and four on heavy-footed underling Braden Schneider.
At the other end of the ice, the Rangers put just eight hits on the Panthers’ d and only one each on offensive types Gustav Forsling and Brandon Montour.
The result? Fox, the Rangers’ most skilled defenseman by a country mile, had a rough night 5v5 with a Corsi of 40 and an expected goals for percentage of 38.74. Spared the wrath of Fox’s teammates, his Florida counterpart Forsling had a strong game by comparison, leading the rush on the game-opening goal and finishing decidedly in the pink in Corsi (68.42) and xGF% (56.48).