Sergei Bobrovsky Gets Win No. 400, Panthers Beat Rangers

Sergei Bobrovsky became the 14th goalie in NHL history with 400 wins on Thursday night as the Florida Panthers won another at Madison Square Garden, dropping the New York Rangers 3-1.

Florida, coming off a home loss to the Wild, have points in five of its past six (4-1-1) and remains atop the Atlantic Division following yet another win against one of its playoff rivals.

The Panthers are 5-3-1 thus far — and four of their wins have come against the Bruins (twice), Vegas, and the Rangers.

Bobrovsky was terrific in his milestone victory with the Rangers.

Florida went into the third up 3-1 thanks to early goals from Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe; Sam Bennett knocked through a Niko Mikkola shot in the second.

Bobrovsky, who has started seven of Florida’s nine games, made 24 saves including 10 in the third.

Lundell, who leads all 2020 draftees in goals and points this season, opened the scoring 44 seconds in.

Verhaeghe then got his first of the season, scoring from the left circle as the Panthers came hard out of the gate against Igor Shesterkin (26 saves) who was terrific as well.

Alexis Lafreniere, the first pick of Lundell’s 2020 draft, cut it to 2-1 at 4:44 of the first.

Bennett, who leads the Panthers with six goals and has a three-game goal streak going, gave Florida a little bit of breathing room as he got a smidge of a floater from Mikkola at 6:59 of the second.

The Panthers, who beat the Rangers in 6 in the 2024 Eastern Conference finals, will bus to Long Island on Saturday to play the Islanders as their longest road trip of the season continues.

The Rangers came into the night without a regulation loss at 5-0-1.

— Bobrovsky ranks 14th in NHL wins with 400, and is eight away from surpassing Glenn Hall for 11th place.

Bobrovsky is currently behind Chris Osgood (401) and Grant Fuhr (403).

He is also the fastest goalie in league history to hit 400 wins, doing it in 707 games with the Flyers, Blue Jackets and Panthers.

Henrik Lundqvist, who was at MSG on Thursday night, held the record by getting to 400 in 727 games.

GOALS OF THE GAME

• Panthers 1, Rangers 0 (0:44, 1st): Sam Reinhart sends a cross-ice pass to a waiting Anton Lundell who roofs it past Igor Shesterkin for the quick lead.
• Panthers 2, Rangers 0 (2:42, 1st): Carter Verhaeghe gets his first of the season, scoring on Florida’s fifth shot from the left circle.
• Panthers 2, Rangers 1 (4:44, 1st): Alexis Lafreniere takes a centering feed from Adam Fox and puts New York on the board.
• Panthers 3, Rangers 1 (6:59, 2nd): Niko Mikkola floats a shot from the top of the left circle through traffic, Sam Bennett gets a piece of it from the slot, and it flutters on in.

GR’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

• 1. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida
• 2. Igor Shesterkin, New York
• 3. Carter Verhaeghe, Florida

ON DECK: GAME NO. 10

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT NEW YORK ISLANDERS

• When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
• Where: UBS Arena; Elmont, New York
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/Fort Lauderdale); WHDT 9 (West Palm); LAFF 36.3 (Naples/Fort Myers)
• Streaming: Panthers+; ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Last Season: Islanders Won 2-1
• This Season — At Islanders: Saturday; March 16. At Florida: Feb. 2.
• All-time regular season series: Panthers lead 57-34-11, 8 ties
• Next Up for the Panthers: Monday at Buffalo Sabres, 7 p.m.