Florida is a better on-ice matchup than Carolina and nowhere near as fast. Florida plays more zone which will give the Rangers more room to operate. Given the goalie improvement, more room to operate is critical for the Blueshirts.
The key to this series will be neutralizing Aleksandr Barkov. If the Rangers can even play the Panthers to a draw when he's on the ice, that bodes well. Still, hard to see this one not going the distance, and let's be honest: the Rangers are due to play a Game 7.
This series is going to come down to how well the Rangers can slow down Barkov. If they're able to contain him and his line, the Rangers have more than enough depth to overcome the Cats.
The Panthers are similar to the Canes but with truly elite pieces at forward. That said, I think the Rangers have the advantage in forward depth, as the Panthers' bottom six does not seem overly impressive. To me, the big difference maker will be the ad
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