Can the Florida Panthers Continue Their Dominance Over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden?

The Florida Panthers are set to face off against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on May 31, and all eyes will be on whether FLA can maintain their recent dominance. The Panthers have been in stellar form, coming off a convincing 3-0 victory over NYR on May 23. In that game, Sergei Bobrovsky was a wall in goal, stopping all 23 shots he faced and earning the first star of the game.

FLA's recent performances suggest they are peaking at just the right time. Against NYR, they showcased their offensive prowess with goals from Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe. The team’s ability to convert even-strength opportunities into goals has been impressive; they scored three even-strength goals while maintaining a shooting percentage of 11 percent.

Defensively, FLA has also been rock-solid. They blocked an impressive 19 shots against NYR and limited giveaways to just two instances throughout the game. This defensive discipline is crucial when facing a team like NYR that thrives on capitalizing on opponents' mistakes.

On special teams, however, FLA needs improvement. Despite having three powerplay opportunities against NYR in their last encounter, they failed to convert any into goals. Their powerplay faceoff win percentage stood at an average of only 50 percent across these chances. If FLA can tighten up this aspect of their game, it could provide them with an additional edge.

NYR will undoubtedly look to bounce back after being shut out by FLA last week. The Rangers had some bright spots despite their loss; they managed more hits (28) compared to FLA's (29) and were competitive in faceoffs with a win percentage of 48 percent overall.

However, NYR struggled offensively as evidenced by their zero-goal output despite taking 23 shots on goal. Their powerplay unit also failed to capitalize on two opportunities against FLA’s penalty kill unit which was perfect for that night.

Looking ahead to this upcoming clash at Madison Square Garden, one key factor will be how well Bobrovsky performs between the pipes for FLA once again versus how effectively Igor Shesterkin or another goaltender can respond for NYR under pressure from relentless Panther attacks led by Tkachuk and Verhaeghe among others.

Given these dynamics along with past performances indicating strong momentum favoring Florida currently – it seems likely that unless significant adjustments are made by New York both defensively & offensively - we might witness another dominant display from Panthers continuing what appears now increasingly becoming trend rather than exception lately whenever these two teams meet head-to-head especially within such high-stakes context playoffs bring inherently each time around!

Fans can catch all action live starting promptly around midnight Eastern Time via multiple broadcasting networks including ESPN TV/Internet platforms alongside SportsNet CBC TVAS channels respectively ensuring no one misses single moment unfolding inside iconic venue itself come matchday finally arrives soon enough indeed!