3 least impressive New York Rangers players from 5-3 loss to Florida Panthers feat. Mika Zibanejad

The New York Rangers will be glad to put what has been an abysmal last month and a half behind them when the calendar turns to 2025 in just over 24 hours.

They lost for the seventh time in their last eight games, dropping a 5-3 decision to the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena.

It was their first trip back to the venue since Game 6 of the 2024 Eastern Conference Final, which was won by the Panthers and ended any hope of New York returning to the Cup Final for the first time since 2014.

With the loss, the New York Rangers fell to 16-19-1, while the Panthers improved to 23-13-2 as they continued their Stanley Cup defense.

It was an ominous beginning for the Rangers, as they fell behind by a pair of goals from Eetu Luostarinen and Mackie Samoskevich.

But late in the second period, they fought their way back and tied the score at 2-2 thanks to tallies from Filip Chytil and Ryan Lindgren, only to see the Panthers retake the lead less than a minute later when Jesper Boqvist scored his sixth goal of the year.

Chris Kreider, who was recently designated a healthy scratch for the Rangers, once again tied the score with his 12th goal.

Once again, Boqvist put the Panthers in front, this time at the 11:38 mark of the third period. Aleksander Barkov then scored into the empty net with Rangers goaltende Igor Shesterkin lifted for the extra attacker.

3 least impressive New York Rangers players from 5-3 loss to Florida Panthers

#1. Mika Zibanejad

One of the highest-paid New York Rangers forwards, Mika Zibanejad is struggling the most and could very well be on the move before long if general manager Chris Drury intends to continue shaking up his roster.

Zibanejad's turnover early in the game directly led to Florida's first goal, and he also failed to find the scoresheet, managing only a single shot.

#2. Igor Shesterkin

The New York Rangers went right back to Shesterkin between the pipes after he was pulled earlier this week in the loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Unfortunately for the team, he wasn't able to get the job done again. He allowed four goals on just 25 shots, raising his goals-against average to a pedestrian 3.10 — nowhere near the kind of numbers that a goaltender about to become the richest in NHL history should be posting.

#3. K'Andre Miller

Recently returned to action from a stint on injured reserve, Miller has taken a while to readjust himself to the speed of NHL hockey, and it's shown. He was a minus-3 in the loss against the Panthers while also committing three giveaways.

He was also caught out of position on Boqvist's first goal of the night, failing to stop Anton Lundell from digging out a loose puck in the crease.