Banged-up Rangers ready to take on Panthers in Winter Classic

MIAMI — The hockey gods bestowed upon the Sunshine State two days with sub-70 temperatures just in time for this year’s Winter Classic. 

It is set to be unlike any other outdoor game the NHL has put on since the Rangers were the first club to participate in one on Sept. 27, 1991, when they took on the Kings in a preseason game on a rink built over the parking lot of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. 

LoanDepot park, the home of MLB’s Miami Marlins, will open its retractable roof Friday and host the first outdoor hockey game in Florida. 

The challengers: 

The back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers, and the Rangers, who will look to maintain their perfect 5-0-0 record in outdoor games. 

Both teams enjoyed lively practices and a family skate that followed. Both teams are also on the outside looking in on the playoff picture. The two points that are up for grabs Friday mean something to each team, making the matchup all the more pivotal in the Eastern Conference race. 

“I think it’s a fun practice,” Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin said. “But it’s not going to be a fun game. It’s a battle for us and we need two points as soon as possible. We need to work hard for that.” 

Neither team will be even close to full strength when they take the ice for an 8 p.m. start. 

Despite the fact that he’s resumed skating, Matthew Tkachuk (groin) will not play for the Panthers. Captain Aleksander Barkov (knee), Dmitry Kulikov (upper body) and Tomas Nosek (knee) are all unavailable as well. 

The Rangers won’t have their captain either, despite the fact that he resumed skating with the team for the first time Thursday in a red noncontact jersey. Conor Sheary (lower body) and Noah Laba (upper body), who were injured in D.C., joined Adam Edstrom (lower body) in the dugout to watch practice. 

While the on-ice product might not be what it could’ve been because of all the injuries, Florida as a hockey community earned this moment. 

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The growth of the game in the southeast has been immeasurable thanks to the success of the Lightning and the Panthers. They even managed to produce a quality sheet of ice despite the humid conditions. 

“I was pleasantly surprised,” head coach Mike Sullivan said of the ice. “Maybe because just the perception of playing hockey outdoors in Florida at this time of year would suggest it’s hard to keep ice. I thought it was actually in pretty good condition given the circumstances.

“It’s always a challenge in this type of an event. I thought it was pretty good today.” 

There might not be any real snow, but the palm trees and flamingo statues make for quite the environment. 

The expected sold-out crowd of 35,300 probably won’t mind the mild temperatures. 

For the Rangers and Panthers, however, the heat will be on. 

“Get to enjoy all this stuff and be in the game, but have to take a bit of a breath because we are fighting a little bit,” Braden Schneider said as the Rangers look to end a three-game losing streak. “I think having this and being able to loosen up and get to see everyone have some fun like that — we put a lot of pressure on ourselves and we expect a lot of ourselves.

“It’s good to have this but, I think, ultimately [Friday] is a big match. So we’re going to make sure that we go for it.”