A nationally televised marquee matchup is on tap tonight when the Florida Panthers (45-20-4) face the New York Rangers (46-20-4) at Madison Square Garden in a battle between two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. After a torrid seven-week run, the Panthers have cooled off recently. They’ve have dropped three straight games in regulation for the first time this season and have been shut out twice in the those losses, including Thursday night’s disappointing 3-0 effort against the Nashville Predators at Amerant Bank Arena. Carter Verhaeghe has gone 14 games without scoring a goal.
The Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers enter the game winners of three of their last four, including a key 5-2 road victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday that kept them two points ahead of the surging Carolina Hurricanes. New York boasts a strong 24-9 record on home ice and will looking to avoid getting swept by the Cats this season. Artemi Panarin is on the cusp of his first 100-point season. He has already established new career-highs in goals (41) and points (97).
- WHEN: 8:00 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
- ON THE TUBE: ABC, ESPN+
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #NYR, #FLAvsNYR, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Blueshirt Banter
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 3 of 3 (2-0)
- LAST MEETING: FLA 4, @NYR 2 – (Recap) 3/4/2024
- NEXT MEETING: March 23, 2024
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (32-15-2 .916 / 2.37 4SO) / New York: Shesterkin (29-15-2 .912 / 2.60 3SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / New York
Saturday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- BOSTON (41-15-15 97P) at Philadelphia (35-26-9 79P) 1 p.m. (NHL Network)
- DETROIT (36-26-6 78P) at Nashville (41-25-4 86P) 5 p.m.
- OTTAWA (28-36-4 60P) at New Jersey (34-32-4 72P) 7 p.m.
- Edmonton (42-21-4 88P) at TORONTO (39-20-9 87P) 7 p.m.
- TAMPA BAY (38-25-6 82P) at Los Angeles (36-22-11 83P) 10:30 p.m.
Idle: BUF (71P), MTL (62P)