The Florida Panthers will be looking for a strong bounce back effort when they take the ice Monday night in Sunrise.
Florida did not show much in their 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday and now will try to show what they can do against the struggling New York Rangers.
New York entered the season as one of the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference and compete for a Stanley Cup.
Why not? They featured a mostly returning roster that won the Presidents’ Trophy last season and advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Things started out strongly enough for the Rangers, skating out to an impressive 12-4-1 mark during the first couple months of the season.
Since then, however, they’ve won just four of their past 18 (4-14-0), falling from a Metropolitan Division playoff position to six points out of the last Wild Card spot.
In almost the same time span, Florida has seen their season go in the opposite direction as the Rangers.
Since late November, the Panthers are 10-4-1, and that includes their consecutive regulation losses this week.
Interestingly, the four regulation losses in that stretch for Florida have all been via the shutout.
Despite the offensive issues in their recent defeats, the Panthers remain one of the top scoring teams in the NHL.
Entering play Monday, Florida is averaging 3.35 goals per game, tied for sixth-most in the league with Colorado.
This will be the second meeting of the season between the Panthers and Rangers.
Florida actually handed New York their first regulation loss of the season, all the way back on Oct. 24.
The 3-1 victory improved the Cats’ record to 5-3-1 while dropping the Rangers to 5-1-1.
Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said the team’s lineup will remain the same, aside from a change in goal.
Sergei Bobrovsky will get the nod between the pipes for Florida.
Here are Florida’s projected lines and pairings for Monday’s matchup with the Rangers:
Evan Rodrigues – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Mackie Samoskevich
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Adam Boqvist – Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis – Nate Schmidt
Scratches: Niko Mikkola, Jonah Gadjovich
LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS – FLORIDA
Three takeaways: Panthers couldn’t get into gear, goals suddenly hard to come by
Holiday hangover? Panthers blanked by Montreal 4-0
Young goaltenders lock horns as Panthers, Canadiens meet in Sunrise
Practice notebook: Panthers return from holiday break healthier, motivated group
Panthers hope to return from holiday break with injury and illness issues behind them
Read the full article here
