Rangers, Panthers Expect Physical Showdown in Conference Final

Playing Game 1 of the Eastern Conference NHL finals in Madison Square Garden is so appealing that Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk can’t wait to get there.“It’s playoff hockey in New York,” he said. “It’s a dream. Madison Square Garden on the road is my favorite rink to play in just because of the history and everything that has to do with the city of New York. It’s a great city. They love their sports. It’s going to be such a great atmosphere. Conference finals at MSG is just so cool.”What figures to be an epic best-of-seven series for the right to play for the Stanley Cup begins Wednesday at the Garden with the New York Rangers attempting to defend home ice against the Panthers, who lost in the Stanley Cup Finals last year to the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Both teams appear evenly matched. Both are healthy, both are deep, both are physical, and both believe they can win the Cup this season.“It shouldn’t be surprising that they’re a good team, that they’re hungry, that they play well, or that they’ve got good goal-tending and good specialty teams,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “Almost everybody does at this point. I understand what they did last year. I think our players understand that, too. But they followed it up this year and they’re a very good team as well.”The Rangers are trying to advance to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2014 and win the Cup for the first time since 1994. The Blueshirts (55-23-4) are 8-2 in the playoffs, sweeping the Washington Capitals in four games and eliminating the Carolina Hurricanes in six games, culminating in Chris Kreider’s natural hat trick (three consecutive goals) in just under nine minutes of the third period of Game 6.“We talk about being a resilient group and a competitive group and I think we showed that,” Mr. Kreider said after the game.Mr. Kreider’s hat trick conjured memories of 1994 when Mark Messier guaranteed a victory in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference Finals with the New Jersey Devils and backed it up with a hat trick of his own, including the game-winner. It gives the Blueshirts plenty of momentum and confidence heading into the Eastern Conference finals.The Panthers are confident, too. “We’re clicking right now,” Mr. Tkachuk said.The Panthers (52-24-6) needed five games to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round and took six games to get past the Boston Bruins to reach their second straight Eastern Conference final. The Panthers have scored 39 goals while allowing 27. The Rangers have allowed 26 goals while scoring 35. It’s the first time the two teams have met in the post-season since 1997, when the Rangers won the Eastern Conference quarterfinals matchup in five games.“Just a very, very fast, very talented team, dynamic off the rush,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said of the Rangers. “They’ve got all the spots. They’re the best team in the League. They’ve got the goaltending, forwards, and back end are big and strong and the forwards are very skilled.”Vincent Trocheck (six goals, eight assists) and Mika Zibanejad (three goals, 11 assists) lead the Rangers with 14 points each in the post-season. Mr. Kreider’s seven goals are the team’s most. Mr. Tkachuk leads the Panthers with 14 points on four goals and 10 assists, while Aleksander Barkov has 13 points on five goals and eight assists.Mr. Kreider took all the applause for his heroics in the third period of Game 6 but praised Mr. Trocheck for his impact on the series against Carolina and throughout the season. “He’s finally getting some of the attention he deserves,” Mr. Kreider said of his teammate. “He’s a horse for us. He does everything for us. Every time Vincent does a faceoff he digs in and gives us a chance, and beyond that the way he carries the puck, and the way he forechecks, he does everything for us.”The Panthers defeated the Rangers in two of their three meetings during the regular season. Two of those games were decided by one goal, making defense a priority in this series.The Panthers have owned the best defense in the playoffs thus far, allowing 24.1 shots per game, while the Rangers are defending 32.5 shots per game, the highest of the four remaining teams in the NHL Playoffs. The Rangers have the edge in power play at 31.4 percent and penalty kill at 89.5.“It’s a really good team,” Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky said of the Rangers. “A really good balanced team. It’s going to be a fun challenge.”

Rangers, Panthers Expect Physical Showdown in Conference Final

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