1/25/10 Rangers vs. Panthers

Zucc-zucc-riot!

Rangers against the Florida Panthers.

The Rangers, managed to pull off another stunning win in the shootout yesterday against the Washington Capitals. Wojtek Wolski, Matz Zuccarello, and Artem Anisimov all scored for the Rangers to win by a score of 3-2 (the score I predicted I might add). Despite losing a few players to injuries, the Rangers have done anything but show their weaknesses. The players like Chad Kolarik and others have showed the depth of this Ranger team, and have helped carry the weight put on by all the players sitting with injuries. The Rangers have split 3-0 wins with Florida this season, as they head into their third meeting with the Panthers this season at MSG tonight. However, the only player who scored against the Panthers so far this season that is the most healthy is Derek Stepan. The other goal scorers in Brandon Prust is injured, but not bad enough that he has had to sit out any games, and Ryan Callahan who has been sitting for the past few weeks with a broken hand.

The Panthers have not had the best of luck as of recently, going 3-4-3 in their last 10 games. They're power-play, however, has picked up to an 11.4 percentage, which may not sound like much, but its better than a 9.8%. On the Panthers injury front, they are in the same boat as the Rangers. Chris Higgins, Byron Bitz, Bryan McCabe, and Dimitri Kulikov are all out for the Panthers.

My Diagnosis


Every time I mention the word "momentum", the Rangers ultimately decide to tank in the game I mention it, so I'm going to avoid that word tonight. Wojtek Wolski is hot for the Rangers, and has paid dividends since arriving to the Blueshirts. Expect him to be very noticeable tonight on the ice. However, the Panthers' penalty kill is better than the Rangers', so I'm expecting some special teams struggles tonight. In all, I think the Rangers will pull out another victory tonight at MSG. Henrik Lundqvist sat for the game against Washington last night, and is fresh and ready to go for tonight.

My Predictions


Rangers win 2-1

Wojtek Wolski will get the first goal for the Rangers early in the 1st period.
Stephen Weiss will tie the game half way through the 2nd.
And finally, Mats Zuccarello will get the game winning goal for the Rangers in the 3rd.

Enjoy the game!