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The New York Rangers and the Florida Panthers are set to face off in Game One of the Eastern Conference Final on Wednesday night in a matchup of the top two teams in the conference.
The Panthers won the Atlantic Division and come into this contest off the back of a hard-fought six-game series win against the Boston Bruins in the Second Round.
The Rangers, meanwhile, won the Presidents' Trophy with the best record in the NHL. They brushed the Washington Capitals aside in the first round and won in six games against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round, coming from 3-1 down in the third period of Game 6 to win 5-3 courtesy of Chris Kreider's hat trick.
Both sides will be looking to kick off the series on a winning note and Game One should be an exciting one.
Here, GOAL brings you all the information you need to know about this NHL match, including how to watch, team news, key results and head-to-head results.
New York Rangers vs Florida Panthers: Date & Puck-Drop time
| Date | Wednesday, May 22, 2024 |
| Time | 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT |
| Arena | Madison Square Garden |
| Location | Manhattan, New York, USA |
The New York Rangers will play the Florida Panthers in a highly anticipated NHL matchup on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York.
How to watch New York Rangers vs Florida Panthers NHL Game on TV & stream live online
The New York Rangers vs. Florida Panthers NHL fixture will be broadcast live nationally on ESPN.
If you don't have cable TV, the best way to watch almost every NHL playoff game online is with DirecTV Stream Choice. Best of all, DirecTV Stream packages all start with a five-day free trial. You need to pay for DirecTV Stream's Ultimate plan ($119.99 per month) to get all the channels you need to watch games on national channels: ABC, ESPN, NHL Network, TBS, and TNT.
New York Rangers vs Florida Panthers Team News & Key Leaders
New York Rangers
New York has two players on the injury report. Filip Chytil is out indefinitely with an upper-body issue while Blake Wheeler is out for the year with a lower-body problem.
The Rangers were able to thwart the comeback from Carolina, beating them in game six by a score of 5-3. The Rangers scored four times in the third period to steal the game and the series. Chris Kreider was sensational, scoring three times and leading the team with seven shots on goal.
Goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who has been arguably the best goalie in the playoffs, made 33 of 36 saves to secure the victory for the Rangers. Mika Zibanejad (three goals, 11 assists) and Vincent Trocheck (six goals, eight assists) each lead the Rangers with 14 points. Kreider leads in goals with seven. Artemi Panarin has 11 points (4 G, 7 A), and Alexis Lafreniere (4 G, 6 A) and Kreider (3 A) each have 10.
Florida Panthers
As it stands, Florida are enjoying a clean bill of health heading into this contest, with nobody listed on the injury report.
The Panthers have looked dominating in the playoffs, with their offense producing 39 goals in 11 games. The top two lines are led by Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov, who have nine goals and 18 assists, but the rest of the offence has also performed admirably.
A huge part of their playoff success has been the play of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who took his game to another level in the last round against the Boston Bruins. Bobrovsky allowed two or fewer goals in each of the final five games of that series, going 4-1 over that period with a stellar .921 SV% and 1.62 GAA.
Head-to-Head Record
This is the second time the Rangers and Panthers take on each other in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The first time they locked horns was 27 years ago when New York won the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in five games.
| Date | Match | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| 3/24/24 | New York Rangers 4-3 Florida Panthers | NHL |
| 3/5/24 | New York Rangers 2-4 Florida Panthers | NHL |
| 12/30/23 | Florida Panthers 4-3 New York Rangers | NHL |
| 3/26/23 | Florida Panthers 3-4 New York Rangers | NHL |
| 1/24/23 | New York Rangers 6-2 Florida Panthers | NHL |