Florida has won five of their seven games away from home during the postseason
After four games of the 2024 Eastern Conference Final, the only thing that has been decided is that this has been a very competitive series.
Both the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers have won a pair of games.
Each team has won once in the other’s barn. The Rangers have won twice in overtime, Florida once.
The Panthers have a shutout victory. The Rangers have Igor Shesterkin.
Now the series comes down to a best-of-3.
While one might think Florida would be feeling a certain way about having to potentially play two of those three games at Madison Square Garden, the Panthers will have plenty of confidence heading into the extremely hostile environment.
Remember, Florida finished the regular season tied with Dallas for most road wins in the league, and they’ve continued on that trend during the playoffs.
The Panthers and Rangers are actually tied with identical 5-2 road records during the postseason. Only Dallas has more, holding a 6-2 record away from home following their loss to Edmonton in Game 4 on Wednesday.
Regarding Florida’s lineup, it remains to be seen whether Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice makes any changes from Game 4 to Game 5
Odds are, if the roster looks any different it would be a winger or two on the fourth line.
So far, Maurice has used two sets of wingers on that line – Kyle Okposo and Steven Lorentz are one pair, Ryan Lomberg and Nick Cousins are the other – while center Kevin Stenlund is locked into his spot anchoring the line and one of Florida’s two penalty killing units.
"I think they all have a unique skill,” Maurice said of his options on the fourth line. “Some of it is pairings, some of it is matchups, at home and road, and some of it is fresh energy and fresh legs. We're closing in on six weeks of this and all the guys are playing 20 minutes a night, sometimes you just need a lift, a different voice in the room and a little extra jump."
Here are Florida's projected lines and pairings for Game 5 in New York:
Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues – Anton Lundell – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Sam Bennett – Vladimir Tarasenko
Steven Lorentz – Kevin Stenlund – Kyle Okposo
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
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