Rangers 5 - 2 Panthers
Final
  for this game

Rangers hope to rebound against Panthers

Dec 31, 2014 - 3:57 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The New York Rangers hope to begin a new winning streak Wednesday when they visit the Florida Panthers for a New Year's Eve clash at BB&T Center.

The Rangers held the NHL's longest active winning streak with eight straight wins before running into the Dallas Stars on Monday.

New York grabbed the early 1-0 lead in Dallas, but the Stars finished strong to pick up the 3-2 win. It was New York's first setback since dropping another 3-2 regulation decision on Dec. 6 in Detroit.

"We knew we weren't going to win out, but we wanted to keep this thing going as long as we could," said Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi after Monday's setback. "It's unfortunate it had to end tonight, but we have a chance to come back in two days and end the year off right."

The Blueshirts also had a four-game road winning streak snapped and fell to 7-6-1 as the guest. New York is hoping to get back on track tonight by earning its second straight New Year's Eve win in South Florida.

The Panthers also hosted the Rangers on Dec. 31, 2013, when New York posted a 2-1 shootout victory. That also was the last time these clubs faced each other.

New York has won three straight and seven of the last nine meetings and Florida has lost two straight and three of four as the host.

J.T. Miller put the Rangers ahead 1-0 with a power-play tally just under six minutes into Monday's game. The score was knotted at 2-2 after 20 minutes, but Dallas was record the final goal of the contest when Antoine Roussel notched the game-winner just 54 seconds into the second period.

Kevin Hayes also scored for the Rangers, who failed to post their first nine- game winning streak since tying a franchise record with 10 consecutive wins from Jan. 19-Feb. 10, 1973.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 23-of-26 shots in the loss. He boasts an 18-9-1 record, 1.76 goals against average and .939 save percentage in his career against Florida.

Lundqvist also has record five shutouts over his 28 lifetime outings versus the Panthers.

Florida had won two straight before losing Tuesday's shootout decision against visiting Montreal. Despite the 2-1 setback, the Panthers picked up a point for the seventh time in eight outings (5-1-2).

P.A. Parenteau netted the lone marker in the final phase to give the Canadiens the win, but Florida will gladly take the point after Nick Bjugstad tied the game at 1-1 with just 1:49 left in regulation.

Roberto Luongo took the loss despite 33 stops.

"You feel fortunate to get the one (point), but I thought we played well enough to win the hockey game," Panthers head coach Gerard Gallant said.

Al Montoya will get the start in net tonight. Luongo's backup is 1-2-0 with a 3.92 GAA in his career against the Rangers.

Florida is closing a four-game homestand tonight and is 9-4-3 at BB&T Center this season. The Panthers will open a six-game road trip when they visit the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.






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