Rangers take on the Panthers as they look to keep pace in Metro
By Conor Power
When the dust settles at the end of the season, there will not be a team in the Metropolitan that has not earned its place in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If the New York Rangers want to be one of those teams, they will need to defeat the reigning Presidents Trophy winner tonight in the Florida Panthers. This is the kind of game the Rangers have to be winning. Florida is not the kind of team that is going to trouble the playoff picture right now, so the Blueshirts have to win.
Julien Gauthier will return to the Blueshirts lineup after missing the last three games with an injury. He is likely to slot onto the fourth line with Jonny Brodzinski being reassigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack earlier this week. Gauthier has been impressive at points this season but has struggled to get his production up to a high enough level to be a regular contributor on the scoresheet. He’s had some bright moments, but there’s still some work to be done.
Igor Shesterkin will get the nod for New York. Igor is starting to look more and more like the Vezina winner that dominated the NHL last season and with the rise of Igor the Rangers rose with him. As the all-star netminder gets hotter and hotter, there is little doubt that the Blueshirts will become better and better. A win against Florida would be a great way to continue the return of the Russian netminder.
New York Rangers
Artemi Panarin – Mika Zibanejad – Chris Kreider
Jimmy Vesey – Vincent Trocheck – Barclay Goodrow
Alexis Lafreniere – Filip Chytil – Kaapo Kakko
Vitali Kravtsov – Jake Leschyshyn – Julien Gauthier
Ryan Lindgren – Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller – Jacob Trouba
Ben Harpur – Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jaroslav Halak
Florida Panthers
Sam Reinhart – Aleksander Barkov – Anton Lundell
Matthew Tkachuk – Sam Bennett – Carter Verhaeghe
Grigori Denisenko – Nick Cousins – Eetu Luostarinen
Ryan Lomberg – Chris Tierney – Givani Smith
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Marc Staal – Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura – Radko Gudas
Alex Lyon
Spencer Knight
Puck drop time and where to watch
Puck drop is at 7 PM Eastern live from the Garden. New York will be looking to atone for recent losses against the Canadiens and against the Bruins by beating up on the Cats. MSG has the call for the Rangers feed. Bally Sports Florida Extra will have the Panthers feed and there will be a lot riding on this game as both teams are desperate for two points in the standings to keep pace.