In a showdown between two playoff contenders, the Rangers came back to defeat the Panthers 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday night at The Garden.

Artemi Panarin’s goal in the second round stood up as the winner. The emerging Hart candidate also scored twice to hike his goal total to a career best 43.

Following Carter Verhaeghe putting the Panthers ahead 3-2 with 4:08 left in regulation, Panarin took a Zac Jones feed and had his shot carom off a Panther’s skate for the game-tying goal with 3:25 remaining. It answered Verhaeghe’s goal only 43 seconds later.

On the goal, Alexis Lafreniere was battling in front. Originally, it looked like he might’ve put in the loose rebound. However, the replay clearly showed that it was Panarin’s goal. The way his season has gone, it isn’t surprising.

Everything has come up roses for the Bread Man. After Sam Reinhart evened the shootout at one to answer a beautiful goal by Mika Zibanejad, Panarin made a great move to the far right before finding just enough room to fire the puck underneath the glove of Sergei Bobrovsky.

Igor Shesterkin made stops on Anton Lundell and Vladimir Tarasenko to seal the victory.

That allowed the Rangers to pass the Bruins for first overall in the NHL with 98 points. They are in play for the President’s Trophy. A point up on Boston with 11 games remaining, they can clinch home ice for the entire playoffs.

It’s hard to say where they’d be without Panarin. With a pair of goals, he’s up to a career high 99 points. His next point will be number 100. It’s been a special season for him. Panarin leads Vincent Trocheck by 30 points for the team lead in scoring.

That’s overlooked by most of the national media who cover the sport. MVP candidates Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov, and Auston Matthews have stronger support. If the Rangers finish at the top of the league, that could work in Panarin’s favor. He’s so much better than every other forward that it should be noteworthy.

When he was up for the award in 2019-20, Panarin probably deserved to finish higher than third. Leon Draisaitl ran away with it while MacKinnon finished runner-up. If history repeats, then nothing has changed. This isn’t to say that MacKinnon or Kucherov aren’t deserving. They boast pretty talented teammates. Unless you think Mikko Rantanen and Brayden Point aren’t helping each candidate’s cases.

Panarin is responsible for Lafreniere’s breakout season. If Trocheck surpasses his career high in points (75), it’ll be due in large part to playing with Panarin. He picked up three assists in the victory to pull within six points of matching his career best season back in 2017-18 with the Panthers.

Sometimes, the most valuable player doesn’t need to have the most goals or points. They can carry a team.

The Rangers weren’t expected to be in first place this late in the season. Yet here they are atop the Metropolitan Division and tops in the league. That’s a credit to how well Peter Laviolette has coached. Unlike his predecessor, he hasn’t been afraid to double shift Panarin. That’s paid dividends.

The most impressive part has been Panarin’s consistent work ethic. He’s played well in all facets, including coming back defensively. Under Laviolette, the 32-year-old left wing has played the best hockey of his career. He’s been more involved in the forecheck and backcheck. It’s led to a special year.

In the third and final regular season meeting, both clubs skated without key players. The Panthers didn’t have Aleksander Barkov for a second straight game. Aaron Ekblad and Gustav Forsling also sat out. The Rangers were again minus defensemen Ryan Lindgren and Jacob Trouba.

Laviolette made one change to the lineup. Opting to give Will Cuylle a night off, he inserted Jonny Brodzinski. He wants to make sure all 13 forwards stay fresh. It was Cuylle’s first healthy scratch of the season. Matt Rempe stayed on the fourth line. He heard his name chanted by the crowd.

The first period wasn’t the most exciting brand of hockey. That might’ve been due to the game’s importance. The Rangers also wanted to play a bit better defensively. It helped not to face Barkov. However, they’ve continued to manage well thanks to Jones and Chad Ruhwedel filling in admirably on the blue line for Lindgren and Trouba.

With the game still scoreless, the Panthers struck first with under 12 minutes left. Josh Mahura took a Verhaeghe pass and let go of a wrist shot that Matthew Tkachuk tipped home for his 23rd goal of the season. After a slow start, the dominant power forward is having a strong finish. Nobody will want to face him in the first round.

The Rangers failed to capitalize on a power play late in the period. With Oliver Ekman-Larsson off for taking down Trocheck, the power play was mostly one and done against an aggressive Panthers’ penalty kill. They didn’t get much set up.

After getting outshot 11-8 in the first, the second period didn’t start well for the Rangers. It took the Panthers just 21 seconds to double their lead.

On a play in transition, Reinhart took advantage of a sliding Erik Gustafsson to dish the puck across to Eetu Luostarinen for an easy tap in that put the Rangers behind by two.

But they got back in it thanks to the power play. After Kyle Okposo held Adam Fox, Trocheck and Zibanejad combined to get the puck to an open Fox. With plenty of time and space, he moved in and beat Bobrovsky with a wrist shot for his career best 14th. That cut the deficit to one with 13:38 remaining.

Just over two minutes later, Panarin struck for his 42nd to tie the game at two. Following a Panthers’ turnover, Fox and Trocheck combined to set up a quick Panarin one-timer that beat Bobrovsky.

The Rangers got some more opportunities in the second half of the period. But Bobrovsky kept them off the scoreboard. On the opposite end, Shesterkin was steady in stopping all 12 shots he faced. Bobrovsky made 13 saves on 13 shots in a busier second.

For most of the third period, it looked like neither goalie would budge. In particular, Bobrovsky. He faced more pressure but held up well.

It was the opportunistic Panthers that clawed back ahead with 4:08 left in the third. On some sustained pressure down low by Tkachuk, Brandon Montour pinched to get the puck to Verhaeghe. He then came out and got to the right circle, where he roofed a shot past Shesterkin to the short side. It was one he should’ve had.

However, the Rangers came back on the next shift to draw even. On some good work from Trocheck, Panarin took a Jones pass and took a shot that deflected off a Panther and in.

After nothing was decided in a good overtime that saw each side get four shots, including a Zibanejad to Chris Kreider set up that was denied by a sliding Bobrovsky, the game required a shootout.

In the top of the first, Zibanejad put on a series of moves before pulling off a Forsberg to tuck a backhand past Bobrovsky. But in the bottom half, Reinhart answered by going top shelf on Shesterkin.

Out came Panarin for Round 2. He was very patient by going to a deke that took him wide. He then found enough real estate to shoot the puck past Bobrovsky.

After Shesterkin made a save on Lundell, Laviolette wanted Trocheck to take the clincher. Facing his former team, he went for a simple wrist shot that Bobrovsky swallowed up.

That left it up to Tarasenko and Shesterkin. Facing his one-time teammate, Shesterkin wasn’t having it. He denied Tarasenko down low to seal the win.