Panthers Wrap Up Road Trip With Battle Against Rangers
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NEW YORK (CBSMiami/SportsDirect) – For whatever reason, the first game back home after a long road trip is never an easy one to win.
The New York Rangers aim to avoid their first losing streak of the season when they return home from a successful road trip to host the Florida Panthers on Sunday.
New York rebounded from its first four defeats this campaign with victories and hope to continue that trend after concluding its 3-1-0 trek Friday with a 4-2 setback in Columbus.
Michael Grabner recorded his team-leading 11th goal in the loss while J.T. Miller, who leads the Rangers with 17 points, was kept off the scoresheet for just the sixth time in 18 games this season.
Florida looks to complete its four-game road trip with a winning record after improving to 2-1-0 with Saturday's 4-1 victory at Ottawa.
Future Hall-of-Famer Jaromir Jagr recorded a three-point performance that included his first goal since Oct. 20 - ending a 13-game drought.
Jonathan Marchessault leads the Panthers in both tallies and points (15) after netting his career-high ninth of the season against the Senators.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Florida, MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (9-8-1): Veteran defenseman Jakub Kindl made his season debut Saturday after being recalled from Springfield of the American Hockey League a day earlier and recorded one shot in 17 minutes, 38 seconds of ice time.
The 29-year-old Czech, who is seven games shy of 300 in the NHL, registered a goal and six assists in 13 contests with the Thunderbirds prior to his promotion.
Blue-liner Keith Yandle notched his team-leading ninth assist on Saturday but remains in search of his first goal of the season - and first with the Panthers.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (13-5-0): Pavel Buchnevich is expected to miss his fourth consecutive game due to back spasms, but New York could see the return of fellow forward Josh Jooris, who announced he is ready to rejoin the lineup after sitting out the last three weeks with a shoulder injury.
The 26-year-old Jooris, who hasn't played since Oct. 26, has registered one goal in five contests this season - his first with the Rangers after spending the first two campaigns of his NHL career with Calgary.
Chris Kreider was back in action Friday after missing two games with an upper-body injury and received 19 minutes, 11 seconds of ice time but saw his goal-scoring drought reach nine contests.
OVERTIME
- Grabner is the first Ranger to score 11 or more even-strength goals over the first 18 games of a season since Rod Gilbert, who netted 13 tallies in that span in 1971-72.
- Florida recalled Kindl to replace fellow D Alex Petrovic, who was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.
- New York has two defensemen (Ryan McDonagh and Brady Skjei, 11 each) with at least 11 assists through the first 18 games of a season for the first time since 1993-94, when Brian Leetch and Sergei Zubov accomplished the feat.
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