Rangers at Panthers
THE STORY: Kris Versteeg and the Florida Panthers are enjoying one red-hot start to the regular season. In his first season with the club since being acquired from Philadelphia, the 25-year-old has more than made an impact. Versteeg has 11 goals and 14 assists to rank third in the NHL in points, and is already almost halfway to his career high of 22 tallies through only 20 games for the first-place Panthers. Versteeg, who has 12 points over his last 12 outings, will try to guide Florida to its third straight win when the New York Rangers visit the BankAtlantic Center on Wednesday night. The Rangers have been on a tear in November, winning seven in a row prior a loss over the weekend.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, MSG, Fox Sports Florida.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (10-4-3): New York snapped its winning streak with a 4-0 setback to Montreal as backup goaltender Martin Biron drew his first start of the campaign. Henrik Lundqvist will return between the pipes Wednesday, a bad sign for Florida. Lundqvist is 5-1-0 with a 1.16 goals-against average in his six previous starts against the Panthers. The Rangers have won five of seven overall in the series and are an impressive 4-1-1 in their last six visits to Florida.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (11-6-3): Home ice was not kind to the Panthers in the early going, with the club losing five of seven to start the season. But the Panthers have won the first two of their current four-game homestand. A victory over the Rangers would give them their first three-game home winning streak since last January. Tomas Fleischman scored the game-winner in Monday’s triumph over New Jersey, giving him a seven-game home points streak. Goalie Jose Theodore has made 46 saves in his last two starts – both wins.
OVERTIME:
1. Theodore has beaten the Rangers in consecutive outings, stopping 70 of 71 shots in the process
2. Brian Campbell of the Panthers is second among defensemen with 16 assists, but has no helpers in his past three games.