Know your enemy: Florida Panthers vs. New York Rangers with the Stanley Cup Finals on the line

The New York Rangers won the Presidents' Trophy this season as regular-season champions at 55-23-4. There’s nothing about their postseason that has caused any concern under first-year coach Peter Laviolette.

The Rangers have a superstar goalie in Igor Shesterkin, a star wing in Artemi Panarin, spectacular special teams, the 2021 Norris Trophy-winning defenseman in Adam Fox and two top lines that are essentially 1/1A.

Like in 1994 — when the Rangers broke the curse and won their first Stanley Cup since 1940 — New York won its first seven playoff games. They routed Washington 4-0, in Round 1, then took a 3-0 lead on the Carolina Hurricanes.

Thursday night in Raleigh, N.C., the Rangers closed out that second-round series in six games 4-2 when longtime Rangers stalwart Chris Kreider scored a natural hat trick, all three tallies coming in the third period, for a 5-3 road-rallying victory.

It is the second time in three years the Rangers are into the Eastern Conference finals, having lost in 2022 to Tampa Bay.

Moving on! Florida Panthers knock out Bruins in Boston with late game-winner

With Florida closing out the Bruins in Game 6 on Friday in Boston, a Rangers-Panthers matchup awaits in a glamorous Eastern Conference final.

It will take place in New York City and New York’s sixth borough, known as South Florida, with Game 1 Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.

Ticket prices on the secondary market for the games in Sunrise will increase with all the transplanted Rangers fans in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

That Amerant Arena could be filled with more than 50% Rangers fans is another quandary the Panthers, who advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals last year, will have to deal with. Regular-season games in Sunrise are awash in blue jerseys.

The Rangers and Panthers have played just once in the playoffs. The Rangers took out Florida 4-1 in the 1997 Eastern Conference quarterfinals. This one would figure to be an explosive, high-scoring battle.

Here are five things to know about the “Original Six’’ squad famously nicknamed “The Blueshirts.”

Igor The Great

When your best player is in goal, that bodes well for a long playoff run, especially since the Rangers allow lots of shots. Shesterkin has started all 10 games and is 8-2 with a 2.40 goals against average and .923 save percentage.

The 1994 similarities are everywhere for the Rangers with Shesterkin’s comparisons with legend Mike Richter. In making 45 saves on 47 shots in Game 3 vs. Carolina, Shesterkin tied Richter for the longest playoff winning streak in club history at seven.

The Russian netminder didn’t give up more than two goals in the first seven playoff games. He cooled a bit late in the Carolina series but the 2022 Vezina Trophy winner is the Rangers' best hope to steal at least one game in which they get outplayed.

Panarin the Breadwinner

In his career year, Panarin posted 49 goals and 120 points in the regular season, averaging 20 minutes of ice time. Panarin scored 20 more goals than his regular-season total last year, lowlighted by his impotent first-round series vs. the New Jersey Devils.

After a terrific start to the playoffs, Panarin took some heat for being pointless in the Games 4 and 5 losses but played better in the Game 6 clincher with two early assists.

“There’s unique players in the game — and he’s one of them — they can be nonexistent and then next thing you know, they end the game for you,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said of Panarin. “And they have that unique ability. Every time he’s on the ice, you notice him and he’s a threat you feel."

The Russian left wing technically plays on the second line with productive center Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere, who also had seen a big jump in his first season as a top-six winger. The Panarin trio is considered one of the most dynamic lines in the league.

Very Special Teams

The Rangers' power-play and penalty-killing units are outstanding.

Carolina failed to score on its first 16 power plays in the Rangers’ series, breaking the skid in Game 4. Mika Zibanejad, who centers the first line, is considered the Rangers’ best penalty-killer.

The PK unit is always a threat for shorthanded goals, leading playoff teams with four. Their PK percentage is second in the playoffs — 91.2%.

The power play saw a lull in the middle of the Carolina series but still boasts the third-best rate in the playoffs — 33.3%. They have a rotating mix of excellent point men with Fox, Panarin and Zibanejad. Trocheck is their bumper, stationing in the high slot while Kreider crowds the front of the net.

Kreider still kicking

After all these years, Kreider, a left wing, still is considered on the No. 1 line, with Zibanejad and right wing Jack Roslovic.

Kreider became the Carolina assassin, adding a new chapter to his storied Rangers career, with his monster third period. He scored three straight goals in the third after predicting to teammates during the intermission that he’d score.

Kreider stands third in franchise history with 304 goals behind retired-number legends Rod Gilbert and Jean Ratelle. Kreider now has seven goals for the playoffs.

The longest-tenured Ranger has played all his 13 seasons in New York. Kreider now makes his fifth trip to the conference finals in the blue jersey as he chases his first Cup.

Laviolette the Lion King

Gerard Gallant was surprisingly fired after their first-round collapse to the Devils last spring. He failed to make adjustments in the seven-game series in which the Rangers won the first two games.

In came the veteran Laviolette, who brought with him sterling practice habits, a new culture and structure to a neutral-zone defense.

Laviolette has won a lot of playoff games. He won a Stanley Cup with Carolina (2006), made the Cup Finals with Philadelphia (2010) ) and Nashville (2017) and now the conference finals with the Rangers. Ironically, his head-coaching career began with the Rangers’ bitter rival, the Islanders, in 2001, and led them to the playoffs in his two seasons, breaking their dry spell.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Panthers vs. New York Rangers: What to know about playoff series