Rangers confident struggling Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin will ‘do it for us’

Two of the Rangers’ most potent offensive catalysts largely have been silenced by the Hurricanes through five games. 

Tangible production from star wingers Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider and their respective lines Saturday night at the Garden likely will be a key for the Rangers — now trailing 3-2 in the second-round series following a 3-1 loss Thursday in Game 5 in Raleigh, N.C. — to stay alive by winning a fourth consecutive elimination game during this postseason. 

“I’m not going to sit here and blame Panarin, or Kreider. They’re character players, they’ll do it for us. They’ve done it for us all year,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said Friday at the team’s Westchester practice facility. “You bounce back. 

“[Carolina] played a hell of a game [Thursday night]. They came out, they were ready, they competed, and we just didn’t match that.” 

Indeed, Gallant reiterated what he had said following Game 5, that his team’s third road loss in this series against Carolina had been a “total team effort.” 

Still, Panarin and Kreider had enjoyed a productive first-round series in helping the Rangers come back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Penguins with a combined eight goals and 14 points. That total included the Game 7 overtime “Bread-winner” by Panarin. 

The team’s highest-paid player also assisted on the Rangers’ lone goal Thursday night, but Panarin was held to zero shots on net for the second time in the series. 

“I can’t pick on Panarin. Like I’ve said, I thought two games ago, he was our best player,” Gallant said of the Rangers’ 4-1 win on home ice in Game 4. “He didn’t get a whole lot of points, but I thought he competed and played hard. 

“There’s just not much room [on the ice]. You can look at all our top guys if you’re going to talk about Panarin and say there wasn’t much room for them [Thursday] night. We didn’t create many scoring chances. They tried, they work hard, they’re disappointed like I am, but you get over it and move on.” 

Kreider, a 52-goal scorer during the regular season, netted five more in the seven games against Pittsburgh. But he has been limited to one score and zero assists by the Hurricanes, with he and center Mika Zibanejad often hounded by Carolina’s checking line, anchored by center Jordan Staal. 

Gallant, who switched up his line combinations in the third period of Game 5, said Friday he was undecided whether to restore them to their usual configurations. 

After his team was outshot 34-17 in Game 5, however, Gallant said the Blueshirts must get back to getting more pucks on goal and creating more traffic in front of Carolina goalie Antti Raanta. 

“The guys know. It’s not that they don’t know,” Gallant said. “When you have success, Chris Kreider’s got 58 goals this year, counting playoffs. … He’s had a great season because he’s around those areas. And the more people you get there and the more pucks you get there, the better chance you have to win the hockey game.”