The Rangers are back at the Garden tonight for the first time in three games. The will face off against the Florida Panthers. This is a big game for the Rangers, because if the can pull out a victory in regulation the would enter the top 8 teams in the Eastern Conference tied with Florida in points with two games in hand.
Florida Panthers (16-15-7) 1 game winning streak
Leading Scorer: Stephen Weiss, 18-19-37 pts.
Starting Goalie: Tomas Vokoun, 11-10 with a 2.57 GAA and a .924 SV%
New York Rangers (17-16-3) 3 game winning streak
Leading Scorer: Marian Gaborik 25-22-47 pts.
Starting Goalie: Henrik Lundqvist 15-13 with a 2.45 GAA and a .921 SV%.
The Rangers are hot winning three straight as I mentioned above. A win here would be greta for this team especially before the Christmas break.
Prediction: 3-2 Rangers. Gaborik with 2 goals, Del Zotto with a goal. Callahan with 2 assists.
The New York Rangers need a win against Montreal. Bad. The Panthers just beat the Penguins last night to really put a constriction on the final playoff position. The Sabres have been all but eliminated. One more loss by the Sabres or win by the Rangers or Panthers and the Sabres are done. The Rangers want, no no NEED the Flyers to beat the Panthers. I have become a three hour a Flyer Fan. I would have assume that the Capitals and the Flyers could and would beat the Panthers. But I think the Panthers will squeak out a victory against the Thrashers. So I would say the Panthers would go either 1-2-0 or 1-1-1 in their next 3 games. That would give the Panthers either 91 or 92 points.
The Rangers could probably beat Montreal althought theyhave been hot as of late. And I could see the Rangers beating Philly in at least on game. So the Rangers would go 2-1-0 or 1-2-0. In which they would have either 93 or 92 points. With 92 points and 1 win they would not make the playoffs so they Rangers really do need 2 wins to make the playoffs.
