Panthers v. Rangers, Game 2: Florida Prepared for Rempe

NEW YORK — New York Rangers coach Peter Laviolette wouldn’t tip his hand on whether or not enforcer Matt Rempe will draw into the lineup for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final, but the focus remains the same for the Florida Panthers.

Many fans and media personalities — notably Rangers legends Henrik Lundqivst and Wayne Gretzky — have been calling for the towering bruiser to add an extra flavor of physicality to the lineup.

Laviolette said that noise has no bearing on whether or not Rempe would draw into the lineup, but he did not skate with the scratches following New York’s morning skate.

“It’s not,” Laviolette said per the New York Post’s Mollie Walker. “Any decision I make is based on conversations that we have as a group internally here.”

And whether or not he ends up in the lineup, it does not matter to Florida coach Paul Maurice.

“I haven’t paid as much attention to that as you guys,” Maurice said. “We’ve played him twice, I think, with him in the lineup. He’s a big physical guy, he gets in on the forecheck.”

Physicality is a strength of the Panthers, which bodes well in countering what Rempe brings to the table.

Aside of needing to be aware of Rempe’s big hits — which have caused injuries to several players in his 24-game career — Florida just wants to stick to its game plan.

“He is a big, physical player, and the crowd certainly loves him, but we have to be aware of him when he’s on the ice,” Evan Rodrigues said.

“But other than that we’re going to play our game, we’re going to continue to be physical, be hard, play our game and whatever players they have in the lineup is not going to change our game.”

GAME 2 NOTES

The starting goalies tonight are no surprise: Sergei Bobrovsky goes for the Panthers with Igor Shesterkin in net for the Rangers.

— Kappo Kakko stayed on a little late after morning skate along with Rempe. If Rempe goes in, Kakko is likely the player who gets scratched.

— Filip Chytil participated in line drills on the top line alongside Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. He looks to be fine after taking a big hit from Niko Mikkola in the dying seconds of Game 1.

— Florida’s lineup will be the same as it was in Game 1.

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL

FLORIDA PANTHERS (ATL1) V. NEW YORK RANGERS (MET1)

Panthers lead Best-of-7 Series 1-0

GAME 2

• When: Friday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Madison Square Garden, New York
• National TV: ESPN
• Streaming: ESPN+/Hulu
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Local Betting Odds — Panthers favored: Money Line (-115); Puck line (-1.5, +220); Over/Under 5.5 (+105/-125). Series Florida -300
• Series Schedule — Game 1: Panthers 3, Rangers 0; Game 2:Panthers at Rangers, Friday 8 (ESPN); Game 3:Rangers at Panthers, Sunday 3 (ABC); Game 4: Rangers at Panthers, Tuesday 8 (ESPN): Game 5*: Panthers at Rangers, Thursday May 30, 8 (ESPN); Game 6*: Rangers at Panthers, Saturday June 1, 8 (ABC); Game 7*: Panthers at Rangers, Monday June 3, 8 (ESPN). (*) — If Necessary.
• How They Got Here: Florida d. Tampa Bay 4-1, Boston 4-2; Rangers d. Washington 4-0, Carolina 4-2.
• Last Season vs. Rangers — Regular Season: Rangers won 3-0
• This Season (Panthers Won 2-1) — At Florida: Panthers 4 Rangers 3 (Dec. 29). At MSG: Panthers 4, Rangers 2 (March 4); Rangers 4, Panthers 3 OT (March 23).
• All-time Regular Season Series: Rangers lead 61-34-8, 6 ties
• Postseason History: Rangers Lead 1-0 (1997 1st)

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (1-0) LINES

10 Vladimir Tarasenko // 16 Sasha Barkov // 13 Sam Reinhart

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 15 Anton Lundell // 19 Matthew Tkachuk

23 Eetu Luostarinen // 9 Sam Bennett // 17 Evan Rodrigues

21 Nick Cousins // 82 Kevin Stenlund // 94 Ryan Lomberg

42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad

77 Niko Mikkola //  62 Brandon Montour

91 Oliver Ekman-Larsson // 7 Dmitry Kulikov

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

41 Anthony Stolarz

Scratched: Kyle Okposo, Steven Lorentz, Tobias Bjornfot, Uvis Balinskis, Josh Mahura, Jonah Gadjovich, Spencer Knight, Rasmus Asplund, Mike Benning, Magnus Hellberg, Matt Kiersted, Will Lockwood, Mackie Samoskevich, Justin Sourdif, Patrick Giles

PROJECTED NEW YORK RANGERS (0-1) LINES

20 Chris Kreider // 93 Mika Zibanejad // 72 Filip Chytil

10 Artemi Panarin // 16 Vincent Trocheck // 13 Alexis Lafreniere

50 Will Cuylle // 91 Alex Wennberg // 96 Jack Roslovic

26 Jimmy Vesey // 21 Barclay Goodrow // XX Matt Rempe

55 Ryan Lindgren // 23 Adam Fox

79 K’Andre Miller // 8 Jacob Trouba

56 Erik Gustafsson // 4 Braden Schneider

31 Igor Shesterkin

30 Jonathan Quick

Scratched: Zac Jones, Chad Ruhwedel, Jonny Brodzinski, Adam Edstrom, Kaapo Kakko, Blake Wheeler

Injured: None

New York Rangers Lines Courtesy NHL.Com