Artemi Panarin provided the highlight of the night for the Rangers in Wednesday's return to the ice, making a nifty between-the-legs move to get past Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad before beating Sergei Bobrovsky for New York's first goal of the evening.
Turns out, Panarin learned the move from a younger generation of hockey players, seeing kids from the World Junior Championships pull off a similar move while he was watching the event during the NHL break, which was extended due to rising COVID cases.
The World Juniors has since been canceled due to COVID concerns of its own, but Panarin took that move and practiced it in the days leading up to Wednesday's game, and he wasted no time unleashing it against the Panthers.
"Talented move against a real good player," Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant said. "Sometimes they go in when you put the puck to the net. He played really well today, made some good plays."
Panarin shined overall on Wednesday, logging a goal and an assist in New York's first game in nearly two weeks, but it wasn't enough to get the win, as the Panthers scored three goals in the third period to come away with the 4-3 victory.
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