Blue Line Station
Fansided

What the Rangers need to do to win Round 2

By Steve Paulus

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 26: Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers makes the third period save against the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden on April 26, 2022 in New York City. The Hurrricanes defeated the Rangers 4-3. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 26: Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers makes the third period save against the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden on April 26, 2022 in New York City. The Hurrricanes defeated the Rangers 4-3. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
Nino Niederreiter #21 of the Carolina Hurricanes steps into Patrik Nemeth #12 of the New York Rangers (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Nino Niederreiter #21 of the Carolina Hurricanes steps into Patrik Nemeth #12 of the New York Rangers (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Home ice mattered

The Carolina Hurricanes finished with 116 points, six more than the Rangers and for that, they earned the home ice advantage in the series.  That factor was key in the first round for them as they won all four games in Raleigh and lost the three games in Boston.

The Bruins scored all of six goals in four games on the road while allowing 18 goals (three empty net). In their three home wins, they outscored Carolina 14-6 (2 empty net).  The home crowd in Carolina is loud and you can bet that they will embrace the “Igor” chant that the Pittsburgh fans used to unnerve the Rangers’ netminder. They will be merciless.

The Hurricanes had the third best home record in the Eastern Conference. Their road record wasn’t too shabby, second best in the Conference.  The Blueshirts have shown that they can win on the road, but winning in Raleigh will be a particular challenge and to in the series, they need to win at least one game in North Carolina.

No slow starts

The Hurricanes scored first in six of the seven games in the First Round.  In the regular season, the Rangers had the second best points percentage (.829) when scoring first.  Carolina was sixth with .796.

The Hurricanes won four of the six games when they scored first and we all know that the Rangers have been the comeback kids, but allowing the Hurricanes to jump ahead could be fatal, especially on the road.

The Rangers scored first in four of the games against Pittsburgh and ended up splitting those games.

Okay, those are the statistics from the first round.  The reality is that the Hurricanes’ forecheck is relentless and you can be sure that they will be all over the Rangers from puck drop.  Meanwhile, the Rangers’ slow starts were perplexing.  Except for Game One, the Rangers were outplayed at the start of all of the games in this series, including the three elimination games. How does that happen?

Home/Analysis