rangers panthers 2015

After a strong second half against the Canes on Saturday night, the Rangers are playing host to the Florida Panthers tonight, looking to build on that strong back half. This is a pretty important game, not because it’s the Panthers, but because the Rangers are playing while their other Metro Division foes are idle. A win tonight gives them breathing room on the Caps, and puts them within striking distance of the Isles and Pens. It’s a big game.

Even though the Panthers are mediocre, they have some solid young talent in Bjugstad, Hayes, Huberdeau, Barkov, Ekblad, Gudbranson, and Kulikov. Luongo gives them a chance to win every night, and has been the reason why the Cats stayed relevant this far into the season. They have pretty weak depth, both up front and on defense, so it’ll be the Rangers depth that wins the game tonight.

What have they done lately?

After their hot start, the Panthers are really cooling off. They are 4-5-1 in their last ten, and are very quickly slipping out of the playoff race. That said, it’s not because of their lack of puck possession. They are still one of the better teams there, better than the Rangers:

nyr fla ff

The problem with the Panthers is that, since they aren’t a strong team, they don’t get great scoring success rates. SH% is a skill, albeit an unrepeatable skill, which the Panthers lack at the moment. Luongo can only carry them so far, and it’s why their PDO remains below 1000. As for the Rangers, we may be seeing the bottom start to fall out.

nyr fla pdo

Regardless, this is a game the Rangers should win.

Panthers Systems

Gerard Gallant has the Panthers running a 1-2-2 forecheck, which they will use aggressively or conservatively pending the game situation (e.g., the score, puck location, etc.). In their own end, the Panthers play a straight up zone defense. For special teams, Gallant runs a standard umbrella power play and diamond force/box penalty kill system.

Panthers Lineup

Brandon Pirri-Nick Bjugstad-Jimmy Hayes
Jonathan Huberdeau-Aleksander Barkov-Brad Boyes
Jussi Jokinin-Dave Bolland-Sean Bergenheim
Tomas Kopecky-Derek MacKenzie-Shawn Thornton

Brian Campbell-Aaron Ekblad
Willie Mitchell-Dmitriy Kulikov
Alex Petrovic-Erik Gudbranson

PP1: Bjugstad-Huberdeau-Barkov-Fleishmann-Ekblad
PP2: Boyes-Bolland-Pirri-Campbell-Jokinen

PK: MacKenzie, Fleishmann, Bolland, Jokinen, Mitchell, Gudbranson, Ekblad, Campbell

Roberto Luongo gets the start.

Rangers Lineup

Rick Nash-Derek Stepan-Martin St. Louis
Chris Kreider-Kevin Hayes-Mats Zuccarello
Carl Hagelin-Derick Brassard-Jesper Fast
Tanner Glass-Dominic Moore-Lee Stempniak

Ryan McDonaghDan Girardi
Marc Staal-Kevin Klein
John Moore-Dan Boyle

PP1: MSL-Brassard-Stepan-Nash-Boyle
PP2: Stempniak-Kreider-Zucc-Girardi-McDonagh

PK: Stepan, Nash, Girardi, Staal, Moore, Fast, Hunwick, Boyle, Hagelin, Klein, McDonagh, MSL

Henrik Lundqvist is in net.

Scratches/Injuries: J.T. Miller (healthy), Matt Hunwick (healthy)

Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 7pm on MSG.

Share: 

More About: