SUNRISE, Fla. - All of the shots and defensive-zone time and scoring chances against finally caught up to the Rangers.

They've had games like Tuesday's at Amerant Bank Arena throughout the playoffs − nights when they're on the wrong side of puck for large chunks of time − but they almost always find ways to pull out a favorable result. That included going 4-0 in overtime contests entering Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final, but that's where the Florida Panthers put their foot down.

Sam Reinhart netted a power-play winner for the Cats 1:12 into OT, handing the Blueshirts a 3-2 defeat to knot this series at two games apiece. Now they'll head back to New York for Game 5, which will be played Thursday at 8 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.

"It stings now," Rangers center Mika Zibanejad said. "But we sleep, get some rest, and get ready to focus for Game 5 at home."

It's getting harder and harder to explain away the lopsided nature of these games.

The Rangers started with perhaps their strongest period of the series, but the next two were controlled by the Panthers. In the 40 minutes leading up to overtime, they outshot the Blueshirts, 27-10, with a 15-2 advantage in high-danger scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.

"We're spending a little bit too much time playing defense, especially in the second period," head coach Peter Laviolette said. "That happened last game, as well, and so we're not able to move and generate the way that we want to out there. They come at you hard. They dump a lot of pucks. They forecheck hard, so you’re not spending time in the right zone."

Blake Wheeler: Veteran returns after long absence, replaces Filip Chytil

That's putting a ton of pressure on Igor Shesterkin to be superman every night.

He's largely been up to the task, helping them pull off dramatic overtime wins in Games 2 and 3 before notching another 37 saves in Game 4 with a ton of wow moments. The Rangers might already be golfing if not for their all-world goalie, but they're going to need to do more in front of him to put away a ferocious Florida team that's been better in pretty much every other facet of the game.

"It starts with just exiting the (defensive) zone," veteran Chris Kreider said. "If we’re able to do that efficiently, we're able to establish our forecheck and play more in their end. That’s the kind of hockey you want to play at this time of year."

Rangers start fast

The Rangers responded to all the chatter about Florida's lopsided shot attempts in Game 3 by opening Game 4 on the hunt.

Laviolette urged them to "get back to that mindset of attacking ice," with his team heeding that advice for at least 20 minutes.

The Blueshirts pushed the pace early to put the Panthers on the defensive and draw a pair of penalties. The first one resulted in a Vincent Trocheck one-timer from the high slot − a bar-down laser that put New York on top, 1-0, while snapping an 0-for-8 skid from the power play to start the series.

The PP looked as sharp as it had earlier in the playoffs when it was humming at a success rate well over 30%, with Zibanejad and Alexis Lafrenière both hitting the crossbar on later opportunities that could have changed the complexion of the game.

They finished 1-for-3, with Kreider lamenting the chances they didn't convert.

"The process was great," he said. "I just needed to make a couple plays. I feel like I single-handedly harpooned a few of our possession in the O zone, throwing a couple passes that didn’t sit flat, or just whiffing on them entirely. Everyone was on the same page. Everyone was clicking, and I personally needed to execute a little better."

Panthers roar back

As good as the Rangers looked in the first period, the Panthers were even better in the second.

They dominated the middle frame while outshooting the visitors, 14-5, and winning the high-danger scoring chance battle by 7-0 margin, with six of those coming at five-on-five.

"We gotta be better," Laviolette said. "We can't afford lapses like that. I don't have an explanation."

The Blueshirts reverted back to the passive style that nearly cost them Game 3, with Shesterkin the only thing preventing Florida from putting up a crooked number. He made a series of difficult saves, including a couple to thwart grade-A looks for Carter Verhaeghe off the rush and a glove tip on Oliver Ekman-Larsson. But the Panthers eventually got the NHL's hottest netminder on a couple bouncing pucks and bad breaks.

The first came from Sam Bennett, who ripped a shot into Shesterkin's chest off the rush just as a Panthers' power play was expiring. The puck wasn't secured, though, with the rebound trickling to the side of the Rangers' net. That allowed Bennett to follow his own shot and jam it home to tie the score at 1-1 with 11:15 remaining in the period.

The Cats would take the lead just 3:31 later when Verhaeghe's fortunes finally turned. He batted a centering pass from Matthew Tkachuk out of the air for a power-play goal that gave Florida a 2-1 lead and would force the Blueshirts to play from behind in the third.

"You want them shorter, yes," captain Jacob Trouba said of Florida's lengthy possessions. "Part of that is playoff hockey on the road, is the-bend-don't-break mentality. I thought we gave up some looks. Shesty made some huge saves. I thought we defended pretty well in our own zone, for the most part. Obviously, we don't want to be playing in the D zone. We want to get out and establish more forecheck and play in their end, but sometimes that's what the game calls for. You’ve got to play what the game gives. We had a chance to win the game."

Alexis Lafrenière picks up slumping stars

After scoring a pair of goals in Game 3, Lafrenière was once again the Rangers' most visible threat on Tuesday.

He was robbed by the crossbar in the second period after wowing the crowd by dancing through the entire Panthers' penalty kill, but he earned another chance in the third and made it count.

The tying goal was setup by spinning backhanded pass from Adam Fox, with Lafrenière charging the far post for a backdoor redirect that made it 2-2 with 16:32 to play. It marked his seventh goal of the playoffs, which is tied for second on the team behind Trocheck's eight.

The Rangers have been relying on the 22-year-old for offense because their other top forwards have gone cold.

The top line featuring Kreider and Zibanejad, in particular, has largely been negated in the matchup against Florida's top trio of Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart. They spent much of the night hemmed in the defensive zone, with very little offensive pressure of their own.

The shot attempts were 21-5 in the Panthers' favor while Kreider and Zibanejad were on the ice together at 5v5 and the scoring chances 11-2. Shockingly, neither of the Rangers' two longest-tenured players have registered a point through four games.

"We've got to do a better job of advancing picks up the ice and establishing O-zone presence," Kreider said. "A lot of that falls on me. I’ve got to be able to get in there and win pucks – get my body on pucks, move my feet and allow us to get up the ice and start rolling, then cut back and make some plays at the net."

The revolving door in the right-wing spot next to them surely hasn't helped.

Jack Roslovic moved back up after a two-game hiatus, but that trio was wholly ineffective. He was replaced by Kaapo Kakko in the third period, and while there was a shift or two in which they showed signs of life, the final results were the same.

"The change was made for me based on Kaapo and what I saw in the first part of the game," Laviolette said. "He was moving. He was protecting pucks. He was looking to create and generate, and so, I wanted try and make that switch to see if it could try to move the needle in the direction to the offensive zone."

A tough return for Blake Wheeler

Filip Chytil had occupied that 1RW position the previous two games, but he was healthy scratch for Game 4.

The Rangers felt that the 24-year-old, who missed more than six months of action prior to the playoffs due to complications from a Nov. 2 concussion, could use a breather after appearing in each of the first three games of the series.

"Fil's coming back after such a long layoff, and it's what we feel is best for him to continue to move forward for us," Laviolette said. "You're asking a lot for a guy that missed six months to come back in and get up to that speed. This is part of the plan for him."

That opened a lineup spot for Blake Wheeler, who made his first appearance since suffering a right-leg injury on Feb. 15 that required surgery.

It was not quite the storybook return the 37-year-old had hoped for.

Rather than dispel concerns about diminished foot speed given the nature of his injury, Wheeler got exposed at the most inopportune moment. Unable to chase down Barkov and prevent a breakaway in opening minute of overtime, the veteran was forced to hack with his stick and got called for a hooking penalty that could just as easily been deemed a penalty shot.

Reinhart scored the winning goal on the ensuing power play, bringing the Wheeler penalty to the forefront.

"It was a tough spot for him to be in," Laviolette said. "It was a lot of heat on him – a lot of pressure. It was more what they did, I think, then then him doing something. He was surrounded by a couple of players, so it bounces back in. The guys were chasing it down the best they could. He ended up having to get a stick on it."

Wheeler makes for an easy scapegoat, but it was decisions made in the lead-up to that play that ultimately cost the Rangers.

It started with Laviolette opting to use the rusty veteran for the second shift of OT, rather than turning to his second line of Lafrenière, Trocheck and Artemi Panarin.

"The plan was to continue to play the bench," the coach said bluntly.

The biggest mistake of all came from Zibanejad, who flung a dangerous pass into the middle of the ice that was intended for Wheeler but sticked away by Niko Mikkola to spring the Barkov breakaway.

"I think he's open because (Will Cuylle) is going to the net," Zibanejad explained. "I tried to make the play, and they poke it and go the other way. I should have probably just made a different play, but I made the decision there. I can't change it now. If that goes in, it's a great play. It didn’t this time. That’s sports. Just come back and try to make better decisions next time and hope that goes my way."

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY Rangers Game 4 takeaways: Break down in OT and fall to Panthers