The New York Rangers are still desperately seeking answers following their blockbuster trade of captain Jacob Trouba earlier this month.
They’ll try to regain some stability when they visit the Florida Panthers on Monday evening in Sunrise, Fla.
New York is 3-8-0 since trading Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 6 in a roster shakeup that hasn’t ignited anybody.
They’ve dropped three in a row and six of seven, most recently losing at the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 on Saturday.
“Right now, it’s just frustrating,” New York coach Peter Laviolette said. “We’re in the business of winning hockey games and we’re not getting it done right now, so it’s tough to sit here and tell you good things. We’re losing hockey games. We need to win hockey games and we’re not getting that done.”
New York had high expectations after reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the second time in three years last season.
Hopes of getting past that hurdle and reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2014 were heightened after the Rangers improved to 12-4-1 with a 4-3 win at the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 19. They haven’t won two games in a row since.
“Result-wise, this is not what we wanted,” Rangers center Mika Zibanejad said. “We can talk about a reset, we can talk about whatever, but if the result is not there, it’s not going to matter.”
In the loss to the Lightning, special teams once again played a big role. The Rangers went 0-for-4 on the power play while Tampa Bay went 2-for-5.
“We don’t score on our power play, we let in two goals, we put ourselves in a bad spot,” Zibanejad said. “I don’t think that’s the effort. I don’t think that’s the team itself or how we came out, how we started. I don’t think that’s why we lose a game. We had (44) shots, we’ve got to get in front of a few more and get some quality chances, but I thought we did. It’s frustrating.”
The Rangers will face a hungry Florida team that has been shut out the past two games, the second time that’s happened this month.
“Yeah, there is something to that. We are playing the perimeter game for the most part,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “That has a lot to do with it.”
The Panthers most recently fell to the visiting Montreal Canadiens 4-0 on Saturday afternoon, failing to get one past a goalie making his NHL debut in Jakub Dobes.
“I don’t think we are going to dwell on this one, just kind of move on,” Florida forward Sam Bennett said. “Mistakes are going to be made. It’s about how you help each other and fix them. We are just going to move on from this game.”
Sergei Bobrovsky will start in goal for the Panthers. He’s 5-2 in seven starts this month with a 2.24 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage.
He made 24 saves in a 3-1 win against the Rangers on Oct. 24. Overall, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner is 15-12-3 in 31 career starts against New York with a 2.83 GAA, a .908 save percentage and one of his 45 career shutouts.
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin was pulled after giving up five goals on 13 shots in 28:08 against the Lightning. He took the loss against Florida in October while making 26 saves and is 4-3-0 with a 2.87 GAA and a .915 save percentage against the Panthers all-time.
–Field Level Media
