For over two periods, nothing separated the Rangers and Panthers. A pair of power-play goals sandwiched around two goals from leading Florida goal scorer Sam Reinhart had the Rangers even on the scoreboard in the third period at home.

Unfortunately, it was the relentless Panthers who took the game by outscoring the Rangers two-zip to come away with a 4-2 win at Madison Square Garden. It was the Rangers’ third loss over the last four games (1-2-1).

Unlike getting a tying goal from Vincent Trocheck with the goalie pulled in a 4-3 shootout loss at the Maple Leafs, they earned no points this time. It certainly was a different ball of wax.

The Panthers are a better team defensively than Toronto. It showed in how they protected a one-goal lead in the final period to earn points 87 and 88. That leads the league. The race for the President’s Trophy includes the Rangers, Bruins, and Canucks. The Rangers remain fourth with 84 points. The Bruins are up to 86. The Canucks have 85.

While having the league’s best record and earning home ice for the entire playoffs would be nice, the Rangers need to look at why they’ve lost twice to the Panthers. Florida is a very tough team with balanced scoring and a strong defense and is getting great goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky. He made 26 saves to outduel Igor Shesterkin (25 saves).

The Panthers also boast a true star center in Aleksander Barkov. Barkov had an impact on the game, finishing with two primary assists while dominating by winning 12 of 15 faceoffs. He’s a huge difference maker.

On the flip side, it continues to be a struggle for top center Mika Zibanejad. It was another game where he didn’t score a 5-on-5 goal. More frustrating was his inability to pick up Reinhart on his second goal in less than a three-minute span during the second period. Zibanejad finished minus-two and lost 9 of 14 faceoffs.

Another mind-numbing thing was the go-ahead goal Shesterkin allowed to Panthers forward Ryan Lomberg. Even though he shot the puck between Jacob Trouba’s skates, it was from 40 feet out with no screen. It’s one Shesterkin needed to have.

That goal was enough for the Panthers to clamp down and claw the Rangers. They found it very tough to get through the neutral zone and establish anything in the Florida end.

It was only when Kaapo Kakko had a great shift behind the net that the Rangers almost tied the game with less than three minutes remaining. A loose puck came right to Kakko in front of Bobrovsky. But he fired the shot wide to miss the scoring chance. It was the only opportunity the Rangers got.

When Shesterkin was pulled for an extra attacker, they waited too long in the offensive zone to get shots through. Alexis Lafreniere was set up in front. But the setup never came. Instead, Adam Fox was out-muscled by Anton Lundell, who scored the empty netter with less than a minute left to seal it.

For one period, the Rangers played well. They got pucks into the Panthers’ zone and applied forecheck pressure. Most notably, it was a couple of effective shifts from the fourth line that got the crowd going.

Fan favorite Matt Rempe was in on the cycle working with Jonny Brodzinski and fellow rookie Adam Edstrom. They were good early on. On one shift, Rempe recovered a loose puck behind the net and set up a Braden Schneider shot that missed the mark. On another shift, he parked himself in front of Bobrovsky, who had to fight around to see shots.

It’s been how Rempe plays that makes him noticeable. For a player who’s listed at six-foot seven, 241 pounds, he skates well enough to make things happen. So too can Edstrom, who also is six-foot seven and 234 pounds. There’s a lot to like about the pair of former Rangers’ sixth round picks. They bring energy and get things going.

For this game, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette decided to move Barclay Goodrow up to center the third line. He wanted to have a checking line that could match up against the Panthers’ top scoring line. The trio of Goodrow, Jimmy Vesey, and Will Cuylle had a good game. Goodrow’s at his best when he’s utilized in that role. He won 7 of 13 faceoffs and was noticeable in 13:52 of ice time.

When you’re up against Barkov, Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, and Carter Verhaeghe, it makes sense to do what Laviolette did. Tell that to the fans who don’t understand hockey. Goodrow isn’t going to score much. But he’s a gritty player who adds intangibles. That could come in handy this spring. People have to stop focusing on his $3.6 million cap hit.

The Rangers had a good first period. They played well defensively and checked diligently. They also were physical. On a play along the boards, an aggressive Fox delivered a hit on Tkachuk that sent him down. He was turning with the puck when Fox finished the check.

Naturally, it turned into a scrum that had three Panthers to two Rangers. Tkachuk got up and punched Fox to get the only penalty for roughing.

On the power play, the Rangers hardly established anything. The Panthers were aggressive by attacking at the points. With the man-advantage running out, Laviolette tried something different. He kept Artemi Panarin out with the second unit.

With it set to expire, Jacob Trouba let go of a shot that rebounded off Bobrovsky right to Cuylle, who buried his 11th goal of the season to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. K’Andre Miller drew the other assist.

A couple of minutes later, Zibanejad drew a holding minor on Kevin Stenlund. But the top unit was unable to get much done. It wasn’t until the second unit came out that they set up a shot. The Panthers killed it off.

With less than a minute left, Edstrom went off for interference on Verhaeghe. On a power play that carried over to the second period, the Panthers were held in check by the Rangers’ penalty kill.

Florida picked up their game in the second. They were more aggressive and started to dictate the terms. After Trouba lost control of a puck, he took down Barkov. But similar to their first power play, the Panthers didn’t muster much.

With it looking like they had some momentum, a dubious call on Rempe sent him to the box for tripping Eetu Luostarinen. The replay indicated otherwise. He didn’t stick his leg out. It was just two players coming together with Luostarinen falling down.

Unfortunately, the Panthers made it count on their third man-advantage. On a rush that was started by Verhaeghe, an acrobatic Barkov made a heads-up play. He was able to bat a puck out of midair right for Reinhart to fire his 43rd goal by Shesterkin. That tied the score with 9:49 remaining.

Over two minutes later, Barkov and Reinhart hooked up again. After receiving a pass from Gustav Forsling, Barkov and Reinhart worked a give and go to perfection. After he got the puck from Reinhart, Barkov immediately passed it back for Reinhart to one-time past Shesterkin. Zibanejad failed to stick with Reinhart. He has 44 goals for a reason. It was a poor job by Zibanejad.

With the Panthers continuing to press the action, Lundell got his stick up on Schneider. It drew blood to hand the Rangers a double minor. On the first half of the power play, Panarin set up a Trocheck shot in the slot that rebounded right for Chris Kreider to bury his 31st goal to tie it again with 4:34 left.

Although they came close, the Rangers were unable to beat Bobrovsky on the second half of the four-minute power play. When he had to be good, Bobrovsky made the key saves. He had some help from his defense.

With the game still tied in the third period, a Forsling pass up for Lomberg led to the game-winner. He simply gained the Rangers’ zone and took a wrist shot from distance that eluded Shesterkin. Even though it was shot through Trouba, there was no reason for him to allow that goal. That gave the Panthers a 3-2 lead with under 14 minutes to go.

Afterward, the Panthers locked up the neutral zone and made life difficult. The Rangers struggled to establish much offense. They were outshot 12-6 in the period.

There were too many instances when one player tried to carry the puck and skate through a maze of Panthers. As Miller and a few other Rangers found out, that strategy didn’t work. Especially against a well schooled opponent that checks well.

Trocheck made one good rush and even got to the net. But an aggressive Bobrovsky poke checked his scoring chance away with Aaron Ekblad checking Trocheck for good measure.

The only other chance was created by Kakko. It was a strong display of puck possession behind the Panthers’ net. Kakko set up one shot. That’s the best that the first line looked all night. But when Kakko had a glorious chance from right in front, he missed wide. That was it.

There were about two and a half minutes left. At that point, I would’ve gone for it. Shesterkin should’ve been off the ice for a 6-on-5. Laviolette waited too long.

Oliver-Ekman-Larsson cleared his zone to center ice. Lundell had body position on Fox. He then was able to end the suspense by scoring the empty netter.

The Rangers are now off until Saturday. By then, we’ll know what they did. The NHL trade deadline is this Friday, Mar. 8. With rumors circulating that they have an interest in Kraken center Alex Wennberg, who sat out for trade considerations, he could be the target to upgrade at third line center. Other teams are interested.

I’ll put something up this week about it. The Rangers honored Pride Night with taped rainbow sticks and in-game features on the MSG telecast. It was the right thing to do.