Florida Panthers (52-24-6, first in the Atlantic Division) vs. New York Rangers (55-23-4, first in the Metropolitan Division)
New York; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Panthers -112, Rangers -108; over/under is 5.5
STANLEY CUP SEMIFINALS: Rangers host series opener
BOTTOM LINE: The New York Rangers host the Florida Panthers to start the Eastern Conference finals. The teams meet Saturday for the fourth time this season. The Panthers went 2-1 against the Rangers in the regular season. In their last regular season matchup on March 23, the Rangers won 4-3 in a shootout. Chris Kreider led the Rangers with three goals.
New York has gone 34-12-0 in home games and 55-23-4 overall. The Rangers have a 36-8-1 record in games their opponents serve more penalty minutes.
Florida has a 30-12-4 record on the road and a 52-24-6 record overall. The Panthers are 28-6-1 in games their opponents serve more penalty minutes.
TOP PERFORMERS: Vincent Trocheck has 25 goals and 52 assists for the Rangers. Mika Zibanejad has three goals and 11 assists over the past 10 games.
Sam Reinhart has 57 goals and 37 assists for the Panthers. Matthew Tkachuk has three goals and nine assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 8-2-0, averaging 3.5 goals, six assists, 4.7 penalties and 10.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.5 goals per game.
Panthers: 7-3-0, averaging 3.6 goals, 6.3 assists, 4.8 penalties and 16.5 penalty minutes while giving up 2.4 goals per game.
INJURIES: Rangers: Blake Wheeler: out for season (lower-body).
Panthers: None listed.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
