Free NHL Picks Today: Florida Panthers vs New York Rangers 1/1/23

The Florida Panthers (16-17-4) play host to the New York Rangers (19-12-6) at FLA Live Arena on Sunday. New York is coming off a 2-1 shootout loss against the Lightning on Thursday. The Rangers committed only one penalty in the game, holding Tampa Bay without a power play goal.

Mika Zibanejad was the only player to find the net for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin saved an impressive 39 of 40 shots (.975%) in the loss. Florida fell 4-0 to the Hurricanes on Friday. Spencer Knight only had 30 saves on 34 shots against (.882%) in the loss.

HEAD TO HEAD

The Rangers won two of the three games between the teams last season, including a 5-2 victory in their final meeting in February. Chris Kreider (2G 1A) and Artemi Panarin (1G 2A) each had three points to lead New York. Aleksander Barkov led Florida with two points (0G 2A). Shesterkin got the win, saving 34 of 36 shots (.944%).

FACING OFF

New York is averaging 3.14 goals per game for the season, 16th in the NHL, and they are taking on a Panthers team that is allowing 3.38 goals a game (22nd). Meanwhile, Florida has found the net 3.24 times a game on average, 11th in the league, and the Rangers are allowing opponents to score 2.70 goals per game (7th).

Florida averages more shots a game (36.0) than any other team in the league, though the team’s 9.1% shooting percentage ranks 25th. With an average of 32.7 attempts, New York ranks ninth. Power play opportunities are likely to be plentiful for the Rangers, as the Panthers have been penalized 4.97 times a game, most in the NHL, for an average of 12.46 minutes (third-highest).

The visitors are averaging 3.51 penalties (5th-fewest in the league) and 8.03 penalty minutes a game (6th-fewest).The Rangers’ 21.37% power play percentage ranks 18th in the league, while the Panthers are 27th with a conversion rate of 18.38%. When it comes to penalty killing, New York has the league’s 13th-ranked PK% at 79.44%, while Florida is 20th at 75.35%.

TOP PERFORMERS:

Panarin and Zibanejad have been the top skaters for the Rangers this season with 41 and 39 points. Panarin is among the league leaders with his 32 assists (6th). In the net, Shesterkin (17-6-5) is New York’s top goaltender. He has a 2.41 GAA and a .918% save percentage.

Matthew Tkachuk leads the Panthers in scoring with 43 points. He has 17 goals and 26 assists. Knight (8-5-3) has the best goals against average for Florida at 2.93. He has a save percentage of .909%. Sergei Bobrovsky (8-11-1) has played the most games in net for the Panthers this season. He has a 3.23 GAA and a .897% save percentage.