Panthers Begin Tough Week Of Road Games Against Rangers
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NEW YORK (CBSMiami/SportsDirect) – The Florida Panthers and New York Rangers both are playoff-bound but would like to solidify their positioning in each team's respective division as the regular season nears it's close.
Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers hope they left their "garbage" on the West Coast as the team returns from a less-than-inspiring three-game trek through California to host the Panthers on Monday.
While Marc Staal was quick to label his team's performance in Saturday's 4-1 setback to San Jose as the synonym for trash, fellow defenseman and captain Ryan McDonagh went a step further and called out his team.
"I mean, everybody's got to really look at themselves and see what they can bring more of, because it simply wasn't even close," McDonagh told the New York Daily News after the club wrapped up a 1-1-1 road trip with its fourth loss in five outings (1-2-2).
While the Rangers have fallen into a tie with surging Pittsburgh for second place in the Metropolitan, Florida is nursing a two-point lead over fellow Sunshine State-rival Tampa Bay atop the Atlantic Division.
"We can't worry about what other teams are doing, we have to worry on ourselves and stay focused here," said Nick Bjugstad, who scored and set up a goal in Saturday's 5-3 setback to Detroit to extend his point streak to five games (three goals, three assists).
Bjugstad also tallied in Florida's 5-4 overtime loss to New York on Nov. 21.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Florida, MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (40-23-9): Roberto Luongo permitted four goals for the third time in his last six starts on Saturday, but his last outing against the Rangers couldn't have gone any better.
The 36-year-old Montreal native turned aside a season-high 40 shots in a 3-0 win on Jan. 2, snapping his team's seven-game losing skid to New York with its first victory since April 23, 2013.
Vincent Trocheck scored in that January outing and tallied against versus Detroit for his third goal and ninth point in seven contests.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (40-24-8): Lundqvist fell to 0-3-2 in his last five starts despite making 43 saves versus the Sharks, but he has dominated Florida in his career with a 21-10-1 record and five shutouts to go along with a 1.91 goals-against average.
"I feel pretty sharp, I'm not gonna lie. I just feel the last few games for whatever reason there's been a stretch in every game I play where there've been a lot of breakdowns," Lundqvist told the New York Daily News.
Veteran defenseman Dan Boyle scored for the second time in as many games, an impressive feat since he had just one goal since the calendar turned to 2016.
OVERTIME
- Florida RW Jaromir Jagr is showing no signs of slowing down as the future Hall of Famer 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in his last 15 contests.
- Rangers LW Rick Nash, who has been held off the scoresheet in all five of his games since returning from a lower-body injury, completed a hat trick by scoring in overtime to upend the Panthers on Nov. 21.
- Florida is 3-for-10 on the power play against New York this season.
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