Rangers-Panthers set to create Florida memories — and they’re likely to be physical

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Rangers and Panthers have played a slew of games down here since the Puddy Tats moved to this outpost for the 1998-99 season, and maybe one of them was noteworthy.

That would have been the Feb. 16, 2000, contest in which Brian Leetch moved up from defense to play left wing for the only time in No. 2’s career. John Muckler, then the head coach, wanted Leetch to match up against and shadow right winger Pavel Bure, the most explosive and compelling player in the league.

Bure did not score while on the ice against Leetch, who logged 23:47 of ice time. The “Russian Rocket” did, however, score his league-leading 41st goal in Florida’s 57th game, at 7:46 of the first period for the 1-0 goal in a 3-0 game when Jan Hlavac failed to change on the fly when Bure hopped on.

Best laid plans and all that.

One year shy of a quarter of a century later, there will be significant Rangers-Panthers games here, and they will be Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference Final, the first coming up Sunday afternoon. They will produce memories more substantial than the aforementioned curiosity from the darkest age in Blueshirts history.

This is a whole other matter. The Rangers are in the embryonic stages of constructing a group that will have staying power. They continue to establish themselves as a meat-and-potatoes team with a gilded touch of flair that can grind with heavier teams like Carolina and Florida.