NEW YORK – This will be a battle worthy of the Big Apple.
With the race for the top spot in the NHL starting to heat up, the Florida Panthers will kick off a back-to-back with a matchup against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
Looking at the standings with 21 games left in the regular season, the Panthers (41-16-4) rank first in the NHL with 86 points, while the Rangers (40-17-4) are close behind in third place with 84 points.
“I think it’s going to feel like a playoff game today,” Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola said. “I think both teams want to win this game and show what they’ve got.”
Winning 14 of their last 16 games, the red-hot Panthers opened their three-game road trip with a 4-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
Keeping one of the NHL’s top offenses in check, they surrendered just 21 shots on goal during the contest, even with the Red Wings making five trips to the power play. In net, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped every shot he saw to register his 30th win and fourth shutout of 2023-24.
Named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week on Monday, Brandon Montour led the Panthers with three points (one goal, two assists) in Detroit. Evan Rodrigues, Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart also lit the lamp, with Reinhart increasing his team-leading goal total to 42.
“It definitely was a big win,” Rodrigues said. “I think if you look at our schedule moving forward the next couple weeks, we have a lot of playoff teams or teams right on the bubble trying to get into the playoffs. I think you’re going to see some hard, physical games.”
In first place in the Metropolitan Division, the Rangers have dropped two of three games after stringing together 10 straight victories from Jan. 27 through Feb. 24. In their most-recent outing, they suffered a 4-3 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Vincent Trocheck scored twice in the loss to the Maple Leafs, while Alexis Lafrenière racked up three points (one goal, two assists). Between the pipes, Igor Shesterkin stopped 31 of 34 shots in regulation and overtime for the Rangers, but was beaten twice in the shootout.
Finding success at both ends of the ice much like the Panthers, the Rangers rank eighth in the NHL on offense (3.33 goals per game) and fourth on defense (2.70 goals allowed per game). They also rank fourth on the penalty kill (83.4) and sixth on the power play (24.6%).
Producing 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) over his last eight games, Artemi Panarin leads New York in goals (35), assists (49) and points (84). Trocheck is second to him in scoring with 58 points (22 goals, 36 assists), while Chris Kreider has scored 30 goals.
Recently, one X-factor for the Rangers has been rookie Matt Rempe.
Garnering headlines around the NHL, the hulking 6-foot-7 forward has made a habit out of dropping the gloves in seemingly every game since his debut. In seven games this season, he’s logged 37 penalty minutes, including earning a fighting major in five of those contests.
While he might see a lot of minutes, he’s certainly worth keeping an eye on.
“We just have to play our game, stay composed and get used to playing in this type of atmosphere and these types of games because that’s what it’s going to be like come playoff time,” Rodrigues said. “I think we’re at the point of the season where you’re going to start to see more playoff-style games.”
Bobrovsky, who owns a 9-1-0 record with a .949 save percentage over his last 10 starts, is expected to get the start in New York after being the first goaltender off the ice this morning.
For the Rangers, Shesterkin, who sits at 26-12-2, is likely to start.
Meeting for the second time this season, Carter Verhaeghe scored the game-winning goal to lift the Panthers to a 4-3 win over the Rangers in their last matchup on Dec. 29 in Sunrise.
After missing the last two games with an injury, Jonah Gadjovich will be back in the lineup for the Panthers.
“This is a very fast team,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “They get up the ice really quickly. The game that we played at home against them, it wasn’t tremendously physical, but it was so fast that it was a hard game. Both teams spent a lot to play it.”
PREGAME QUOTES
“We have 20 guys in this room who keep everyone accountable. All 20 guys are making sure we’re doing the right thing, not making selfish plays and stuff like that. It’s hard, but it’s rewarding in the same sense. When you’re getting rewarded, it’s a lot of fun.” – Evan Rodrigues
“If you like the speed, the transition and the danger, this should probably be a really, really good game tonight.” – Paul Maurice
“Those guys are going to make plays and sometimes they’ll score goals. We just need to be tight and trust our process and do what we do.” – Niko Mikkola
FIVE CATS STATS
- Since Dec. 23, the Panthers lead the NHL in wins (23) and points (48).
- Florida has not allowed more than two goals in a road game since Jan. 6.
- Sam Reinhart leads the NHL with a franchise-record 24 goals on the power play.
- Carter Verhaeghe has notched an assist in each of the last four games.
- Brandon Montour is expected to skate in his 500th NHL game tonight.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Nick Cousins – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Evan Rodrigues
Jonah Gadjovich – Kevin Stenlund – Ryan Lomberg
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- March 2: F Sandis Vilmanis signed to 3-year ELC commencing in 2024-25.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Monday, March 4 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
TV & Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports+
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM App & Streaming 932; Panthers App
