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LBC GameDay Caterwaul: Rangers at Panthers Open Forum

New York Rangers (21-13-4 46P) at Florida Panthers (21-12-4 46P)

  • WHEN: 7:00 p.m. ET – LBC GameThread right here at 6:30ish
  • WHERE: BB&T Center – Sunrise, FL
  • TICKETS: Single Game /

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  • FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 3 (0-0-1)
  • ALL-TIME vs NYR: 32W-41L-6T 3OTL 5SOL 201GF 258GA
  • ALL-TIME vs NYR at FLA: 18W-17L-2T 2OTL 5SOL 107GF 123GA
  • LAST FIVE vs NYR: 0-3-2 12GF 20GA/

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  • PROJECTED STARTERS: Luongo (16-11-3 .926/2.16 2SO), Lundqvist (17-10-3 .921/2.49 2SO)
  • JAGR WATCH: All-time vs NYR (regular season): 70GP 29G-59A 88P 5GWG
  • PLAYER STATS: Florida / New York/

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NOTES:

F Nick Bjugstad (migraines) is a likely scratch this evening but looks increasingly/could be/maybe/possibly probable for tomorrow vs the Wild; Bjugs was named 2010’s “Mr. Hockey” in Minnesota (former Gophers linemate and current Florida prospect Kyle Rau won the same honor in the following year), so kind of a big deal on paper…D Steven Kampfer (knee) and F Dave Bolland (witness relocation) remain out…Forwards Jussi Jokinen and Aleksander Barkov led the Cats with 1G-1A each in one game vs NYR in 2015-16…F Jaromir Jagr has 33 power play points (11G) in 70 career games against his former club…forwards Rick Nash (3G) and Mats Zuccarello (1G-2A) pace the Rags vs FLA…D Dan Girardi (knee) is expected to play…G Henrik Lundqvist made 39 saves to earn the 5-4 OT victory on November 21st; Luongo finished with a 4.92 on 31 shots against…King Henrik is 11-3-1 lifetime at Sunrise (against some dreadfully bad Panthers squads, it should be noted)…With Montreal (47P) idle, Florida can regain the Atlantic Division lead with a victory.

NHL.com Preview:

New York has split the first two games of a three-game road trip, has gone 3-6-1 in its past 10 games, and was 4-7-2 in December. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is 3-5-0 in his past nine games and has been pulled from four of them. He made 20 saves Wednesday. (More)

Yahoo.com Preview:

Florida went 11-3 in December, the second-best record of any team during the final month of 2015. Only Washington was better, and the Panthers’ .786 December winning percentage was the third-best month in the history of the franchise – topped only by what they did in October 1996 (8-0-4, .833) and November 1995 (10-2-1, .808). The hold on first [in the division] was tenuous and didn’t last a full day into the new year, as Montreal defeated Boston 5-1 in the Winter Classic on Friday to jump a point ahead of Florida. The Panthers, though, are no longer hockey’s pushovers. (More)

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Last game for the Cats: 3-1 home victory over Montreal on Tuesday. Past five: 5-0-0 15GF 8GA (streak: 7W)

Last game for the Rags: 5-2 win from the Left Coast Wednesday evening. Past five: 2-3-0 16GF 21GA (streak: 1W)

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Sunday in the Atlantic Division (Standings / Panthers Playoff Chances):

  • DETROIT (18-13-7 43P) at BUFFALO (15-19-4 34P), 1:00
  • St. Louis (23-13-4 50P) at TORONTO (14-15-7 35P), 7:00
  • Minnesota (20-10-6 46P) at TAMPA BAY (18-16-4 40P), 7:00
  • Idle: MTL (47P), BOS (44P), OTT (42)/

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Panthers, SoFla Media & Loyal Opposition on the Tweets

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