Analyzing the New York Rangers/ Hurricanes Regular Season Series

Game 1: November 7 – Rangers 4 Carolina 2

Henrik Lundqvist faced Petr Mrazek at the opposite end of the ice to kick off the season series in Raleigh  Going into that match, Lundqvist maintained a 30-12-1 career record against Carolina and boasted a .933 save percentage.

This game particularly exhibited the excellent passing ability the Hurricanes have. Right away, the linemates were passing and taking shots on net, forcing Lundqvist to be sharp right out of the gate. The Hurricanes are a unit that continually create pressure early and capitalizes on their speed so we can expect this to be amplified when the season resumes.

Despite their strengths, the Rangers got off to an early lead as Artemi Panarin sniped a shot past Mrazek and the period concluded leaving the Rangers ahead 1-0 despite being wildly outshot, 22 -7.

Entering the second period, defenseman Dougie Hamilton ignited the Canes’ scoring at 14:32 to tie the game, but Blueshirt Brendan Lemieux answered on the power play less than four minutes later. Goinginto the third period up a goal, Filip Chytil gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead before Aho pressured New York by making it a one goal game. Fox then shut the game down by sending the puck into an empty Carolina net for a final score of 4-2.

Both teams only took two penalties apiece between the first two periods. Staying out of the penalty box is a key for New York, given they also scored on one of their powerplay chances. The Canes are a very defensively-minded group and any situation that puts the Rangers a man down could jeopardize the upcoming games.

The Hurricanes ended with 47 shots on goal and Lundqvist registered a season high 45 saves.   Those 47 shots against were the third most the team faced the entire season.  There was no doubt that it was Lundqvist’s play that was the difference.

The Rangers started the game strong and quick, which is also how they ended the game. This must be the way they play in the upcoming series in order to push past Carolina and advance towards the Cup. Only being behind Carolina by two points and finding ways to power past the team in each match puts the Rangers in a great spot to succeed, but they cannot get comfortable.

Game 2: November 27 – Rangers 3 Carolina 2

The two teams matched up later in the same month  at Madison Square Garden as we saw the same goaltending configuration.  The only difference was the addition of Mika Zibanejad as he returned to the lineup for the first time in a month.  At this point, both teams were garnering  praise for their defensive scoring. Carolina’s Hamilton was leading all NHL defensemen with ten goals on the season.

ZIbanejad  demonstrated his importance to the team early when New York drew two early back-to-back penalties.  Just 15 seconds into the second power play, the Swede scored an emotional, welcome back goal and the Rangers were on their way.

Less than two minutes later, Brendan Smith doubled the lead making it 2-0 while they still had a majority of the first period to go.  The Rangers mimicked the pace of the Canes with no problem which allowed them to strike once more in the first period. Once again, Fox reminded his former organization what they were missing by scoring and contributing to New York’s comfortable lead.

Carolina scored two second period goals, but Lundqvist shut them down the rest of the way.  The Hurricanes poured 43 shots on goal and Lundqvist had another fine night in net.

One main highlight of this game was the Rangers’ display of multi-line scoring. If the Rangers plan to go far with their precious opportunity this season, they will need to see scoring from all lines and age groups.

Although they do need to get all players going during this valuable opportunity they’ve been given, it’s obvious that setting up Panarin and Zibanejad are key. The Rangers played these games with such an opportunistic force and that is exactly what they will have to carry over into this next set.

Game 3: December 27 – Rangers 5 Carolina 3

The Hurricanes were facing a well rested Rangers team, with three days off before the match at Madison Square Garden. Once again, Lundqvist got the start, sent out to shut down the Hurricanes. The rest of the Rangers faced James Reimer in net this time for Carolina, but that didn’t faze the Blueshirts.

This game was won by the special teams as the Blueshirts were a flawless 5-5 on the penalty kill and scored twice on four power plays.

For the first time this season, the Hurricanes were finally able to put themselves on the board first when Lucas Wallmark scored five minutes into the game.  They couldn’t escape with the lead as Mika Zibanejad scored a power play goal at the 16:31 mark.

New York roared out to a 4-1 lead in the second period on  unanswered goals by Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, and another by Zibanejad.  An odd man rush led to defenseman Brett Pesce scoring late in the second period to cut the lead to 4-2.

Sebastian Aho scored to start the third period to pull within a goal, but with just over six minutes left, Strome sealed the game with a wrist shot to secure the game 5-3.

This game proved that the Rangers will need to remain on top of the Canes for each period. Despite Carolina opening the scoring, the Rangers were able to prevent scoring opportunities for the Canes, who tend to go on a tear once they’ve got they’ve started scoring.

For the third straight game against the Hurricanes, the Rangers did let their shot count slip with a final count of 42 to a mere 24.  The Hurricanes topped the 40 shot mark in all three starts against the Rangers, a cause for concern. In fact, in his 26 starts this season, Lundqvist faced 40 or more shots six times and three of the games were against Carolina.

Although the Rangers defense was still contributing to offense, the Rangers’ blueliners were not particularly active scoring. This is absolutely fine, Carolina plays a hard game and the team will need defense to focus on taking away scoring opportunities.

Game 4: February 21 – Rangers 5 Carolina 2

Despite Lundqvist’s stunning performances against the strong team, rookie goaltender Igor Shesterkin was put in net for the final match-up of the season in North Carolina. Shesterkin had done very well for the Rangers since being called up from the American Hockey League, but his performances did not shock Rangers fans, who knew very well what he is capable of.

This was Shesterkin’s ninth NHL start and his third straight on the road and he came into the game with a sterling 8-1 record.

The positives kept piling up as Zibanejad opened scoring on Mrazek thanks to a breakaway chance. The Rangers did not and will not see many scoring opportunities like this against Carolina.

Three minuts into the second period, Brock McGinn was able to get one past Shesterkin, who, up until that point, was making save after unbelievable save.  Jesper Fast put the Rangers back up by one goal when he scored ten minutes into the second period.

With just under four minutes left in the stanza, Brady Skjei gave the Rangers a two goal lead by using his puck control to generate a goal. This goal must have made an impression on Canes’ management considering that they traded for Skjei just three days later.

Panarin opened the third period with a power play goal with  Sebastian Aho scoring  his 35th goal of the season and his third against the Rangers four minutes later.

With a 4-2 lead, Strome once again wraped up another game for New York by collecting an empty net goal. This sweep deeply frustrated Carolina and it was abundantly evident Mrazek was determined in particular to shut down Zibanejad.

In addition to goaltending, the Rangers blocked three times as many shots (24) as the Canes (eight) did, which obviously helped out their rookie goaltender. The Blueshirts also pressured Mrazek, tallying 36 shots on goal while holding the Hurricanes to 29.

Conclusions

The main theme for the Rangers is keeping the game simple, quick, and taking shots. The Rangers will need to exploit the shaky goaltending for Carolina and get their players to the net. The Blueshirts should look to score on rebounds, or set up a chance from there.

There is a case to be made for playing Lundqvist, just as one can argue for Shesterkin, but regardless the team will need to play in front well of their goaltender and keep the puck in the offensive zone.