Two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference are set to meet tonight when the Florida Panthers (40-23-9, 89 pts) visit the New York Ranger (40-24-8, 88 pts) at Madison Square Garden (7:00 PM Eastern).
If I'm being nice, I could say that the Panthers and Rangers are among the two most efficient teams in the NHL. Florida averages just 28.5 shots per game and New York 28.4; but both somehow find themselves in the top-ten in the league in scoring, averaging an identical are top-ten in scoring, averaging 2.8 goals per game.
Advanced stats indicate that both are likely to regress to the mean, however, and that's been playing out lately. The Rangers were outshot by the San Jose Sharks, 52-26, on Sunday, falling 4-1 in the process.
New York is fighting for second in Metropolitan Division; they are currently tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins with 88 points, but trail the record-setting Capitals, who have a league-best 107, by a huge margin.
The Panthers still lead the Atlantic Division with 89 points, but Tampa Bay and Boston are just two and three points back, respectively.
The season series between the Rangers and Panthers is tied at one win apiece with both games coming in Miami. New York, however, is 8-2-0-0 in the last ten meetings in the series, outscoring Florida 37 to 23. The Panthers are obviously improved this season, but haven't showed they can win at MSG lately. Roll with the home team.