There is a very familiar feeling about the 2024-25 Rangers.

Just like last October, the Blueshirts were shot out of a cannon and currently have the second-best points percentage (.917) in the NHL after six games.

The Rangers are the only team in the Eastern Conference and one of only three in the league without a regulation loss.

The formula for the Blueshirts also sounds familiar to me.

The Rangers shoot lights out, they dominate on special teams and their goaltending is elite.

The only criticism you can level at this team over the two weeks – and it’s a stretch – is that the schedule was relatively light and the Toronto game was the only one where they weren’t the betting favorite.

The opponent will be pretty tough on Thursday night, however, as the Blueshirts host the reigning Stanley Cup champions at Madison Square Garden.

Rangers vs Panthers odds

The good news for the Rangers is that the Panthers are not yet at the peak of their powers.

Aleksander Barkov, the game’s best two-way center, is on the sideline and the Cats have understandably felt the impact of this loss.

Florida has lost two of its last three games and is conceding 3.7 goals per game since Barkov left the lineup.

Some of that leakage can be attributed to poor goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight earlier in the season, but also to an unusually suspect defense.

Betting on the NHL?

Florida’s defense is expected to get better as we get deeper into the schedule, but the Cats are still trying to put together a new-look unit, and missing Barkov as a security blanket against the opponent’s best players only complicates things.

With the Rangers’ offense firing on all cylinders and the Panthers struggling to find form in their own zone, relying on the Blueshirts to not only win but also cover the puck line seems a viable path to something at the Garden On Worth finding Thursday evening.

THE GAME: Rangers -1.5 goals (+180, FanDuel)

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