The New York Rangers will be in search of their third straight win tonight as they take on the struggling Florida Panthers at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers were finally able to reach the .500 mark after two back-to-back wins last week against two tough opponents. Tonight may seem like a cake walk, but this is the type of game that has “trap” written all over it.
The Panthers have just one win in their last last ten games, and have recently fired their head coach Kevin Dineen. In a sense, this is a fresh start for this demoralized Panthers team as they look to fire it back up for their new head coach. They’re also coming off of a tough loss last night at the hands of the Ottawa Senators, so the Rangers can’t underestimate this Panthers team.
Brandon Mashinterwill be making his return to the lineup tonight as he subs in from Taylor Pyatt, who is currently dealing with concussion-like symptoms. Henrik Lundqvist will get the start for the Rangers, while it’s expected that Scott Clemmensen will start for the Panthers, given that Tim Thomas started last night in Ottawa.
The full lineup for tonight’s game can be found below.
VS. 
New York Rangers (8-8-0) vs Florida Panthers (3-10-4)
Madison Square Garden – New York, NY – 7:00 PM
Television: MSG, FS-Florida | Radio: ESPN NY 98.7 |
Opponent’s Blog: Litter Box Cats
Projected Lineup:
Carl Hagelin – Brad Richards – Ryan Callahan
Chris Kreider – Derek Stepan – Mats Zuccarello
Benoit Pouliot – Derick Brassard – Derek Dorsett
Brandon Mashinter – Brian Boyle – J.T. Miller
Ryan McDonagh – Dan Girardi
Marc Staal – Anton Stralman
John Moore – Michael Del Zotto
Scratches: Rick Nash (concussion), Dominic Moore (upper-body), Taylor Pyatt (concussion), Justin Falk (healthy).