Rangers vs. Panthers: Lineups, storylines for another Sunday matinee
The New York Rangers have an early call for the second straight Sunday when the Florida Panthers trek in from Long Island for a 1 p.m. game at Madison Square Garden. The teams haven’t seen each other since Jan. 2, when the Rangers won 5-1 in the NHL Winter Classic at loanDepot Park in Miami. Mika Zibanejad had the first outdoor hat trick in NHL history and added two assists for a five-point night.
That game was one of the few highlights of what’s been a disappointing season for the Rangers. Another highlight was their most recent game, a 6-1 demolition of the Chicago Blackhawks that saw three of the Rangers’ youngsters – defenseman Drew Fortescue, forward Adam Sykora and goaltender Dylan Garand – each accomplish career firsts.
Garand was the First Star after earning his first NHL win. Sykora was the Second Star after scoring his first NHL goal. Fortescue got the Third Star for an effective NHL debut that included getting a third-period assist.
The Blueshirts could get another rookie, center Noah Laba, back from injury. He was a full participant at practice on Saturday, and the Rangers returned Juuso Parssinen to AHL Hartford a few hours later. Coach Mike Sullivan wouldn’t commit to a return, saying only that “I would anticipate him being a game-time decision.”
It’s been a tough season for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champs, who blew an early two-goal lead and lost 5-2 to the New York Islanders on Saturday afternoon. They’re all but assured of missing the playoffs. They’ve been riddled by injuries from the opening day of training camp, when captain and No. 1 center Aleksander Barkov was lost for the season with a knee injury.
Still, they Panthers haven’t rolled over and played dead – and getting a longer offseason may help everyone heal before training camp begins in the fall.
Igor Shesterkin will get the start Sunday, with Garand as his backup and Jonathan Quick still out day to day with a lower-body injury.
Sullivan indicated after the win Friday that Garand will get more opportunities before the end of the season. Quick “is not there yet. He has not been cleared. We’ll take it day by day.”
This is the second of seven straight home games for the Rangers (29-35-9), who are completing a stretch of five games in eight days and looking for back-to-back wins after a six-game losing streak. They are tied with the Blackhawks for the second-worst record in the NHL, and while wins are nice at any time, finishing as low as possible to increase their odds of winning the NHL Draft Lottery is a question that will shadow the Blueshirts for the rest of the season.
3 storylines when Rangers host Panthers
1. Playing with pride
There will be no Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Rangers this season. But don’t tell Sullivan that losing is winning, even if doing so means a better shot at winning the draft lottery.
“I just want us to build on our team game,” he said Saturday. “I think every day is an opportunity for us to try to move the needle, so to speak. “That is establishing a level of expectation, trying to live up to a certain standard that we hold ourselves accountable to and trying to build our overall team game – whether it be with the puck or without the puck.”
Sullivan continues to emphasize working to establish a “standard” for how he wants his team to play.
“There are some guys who are getting great opportunities right now. I think a lot of our veteran guys have had good opportunities to continue to create a standard that we can be proud of. That’s something that’s important to us every single day.
“Regardless of where you are in the standings, there’s always something to play for. We’re going to do everything we can to put our best game on the ice.”
2. Evaluating the kids
One major item during the final 10 games of the season is getting a read on the team’s young players – especially newcomers Garand, Sykora and Fortescue — who are trying to prove that they can be full-time NHL players next season.
“These players are building a body of work, and when we’re making decisions as an organization, we’ll make decisions based on the body of work,” Sullivan said when asked how much what the Rangers do in the rest of a lost season will impact their future. “It’s what we know. … Does performance matter? The answer is yes.”
Does having a number of young players trying to show they belong in the NHL help bring more spark to the team?
“I think it does because I think they bring a level of enthusiasm to the rink every day,” Sullivan said. “They’re excited to be here. They’re excited about the opportunity they’re being given, and I think they all want to make the most of it.
3. Declawing the Cats
If Rangers fans think their team’s season is disappointing, imagine what Panthers fans feel like as Florida nears the end of an incredibly unexpected season.
The Cats began the season aiming to become the first team since the Islanders in the early 1980s to win the Stanley Cup three years in a row. But injuries, inconsistent play and erratic goaltending have left them days away from becoming the first team since the 2014-15 Los Angeles Kings to miss the playoffs in the season after winning the Cup.
Florida has been without its captain, star center Aleksander Barkov, all season after he tore up his knee in training camp. Matthew Tkachuk missed the first half of the season after surgery, defenseman Seth Jones returned recently after missing 26 games with a broken collarbone, and Brad Marchand is on long-term IR with a lower-body injury that hampered him for much of the season. They’re also missing forwards Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, Evan Rodrigues and Anton Lundell, as well as defenseman Uvis Balinskis with injuries.
Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who’s likely to start Sunday, was a hero of the back-to-back Cup runs, is 26-20-1. But “Bob” struggled all season – he enters the game with a 3.02 goals-against average and a woeful .878 save percentage that’s 36th among the 39 goalies who’ve played at least 30 games.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Alexis Lafreniere — Mika Zibanejad — Gabe Perreault
Will Cuylle — Vincent Trocheck — Adam Sykora
Tye Kartye — J.T. Miller — Conor Sheary
Taylor Raddysh — Jonny Brodzinski — Jaroslav Chmelar
Vladislav Gavrikov — Adam Fox
Matthew Robertson — Will Borgen
Drew Fortescue — Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Dylan Garand
Rangers vs. Panthers: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Florida Panthers
When: Sunday, March 29 at 1 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
How to watch: MSG
