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.