The Rangers’ first goal celebration of the Eastern Conference Final turned into a chaotic fight during the opening minutes of Game 2.
An Alexis Lafreniere hit on the Panthers’ Carter Verhaeghe was followed moments later by Vincent Trocheck directing the puck into an empty, and Verhaeghe then dumped Lafreniere to the ice after the Blueshirts’ forward lifted both arms in celebration
That prompted others to join the scuffle, and the Blueshirts, by the time that was separated, ended up with a power play — with Verhaeghe, Lafreniere and the Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk receiving penalties for roughing.
Tkachuk pinned Trocheck against the side of the net and eventually shoved him to the ice, while Anton Lundell and Adam Fox both ended up dragging each other down, too.
Gustav Forsling, Erik Gustafsson, Artemi Panarin and Aaron Ekblad were involved in the other scuffles scattered in front of the Panthers goal just 4:12 into the first period.
Trocheck, already with 14 points in 11 games this postseason entering Friday, had veered toward the left post and collected a pass from Fox to score the goal — with Panarin picking up the secondary assist and helping spark the sequence.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Rangers in the NHL playoffs
- Rangers couldn’t match Panthers’ toughness as Stanley Cup drought continues
- Rangers eliminated by Panthers in Game 6 as long playoff run falls short of Stanley Cup
- Rangers’ biggest star deserved a Game 7 at the Garden
- Rangers can’t find winning combo despite slew of lineup changes
The Rangers almost added another goal with the man advantage, but Sergei Bobrovsky saved Mika Zibanejad’s one-timer from the left side to keep the Panthers’ deficit at one goal.
Verhaeghe evened the score later in the period with a power-play goal, and that’s all of the production the pair of teams managed across the opening 20 minutes.
Still, it was the type of start that the Blueshirts needed after getting shut out in a 3-0 Game 1 loss Wednesday, where they struggled to generate not only the goals but also the shots needed to create scoring chances in the first place.
They shifted around some lines for Friday, scratching Kaapo Kakko, inserting Matt Rempe back into his spot on the fourth line, bumping Jack Roslovic to the third unit and shifting Filip Chytil to the top line alongside Zibanejad and Chris Kreider.
But it was still the second line, the Rangers’ most consistent all season, that delivered the first goal.
