The Second Round of the Stanley Playoffs have begun and we’ve seen one road upset already. The New York Rangers hope to be the second underdog to jump out to a lead in their series.
There has been a ton written about this upcoming series and there is little to add. There are no new injury issues for either team. The big question for Carolina is the status of number one netminder Frederik Andersen while Ranger fans hope that Barclay Goodrow can come back at some point this series.
This will be the first time the Rangers will face the Hurricanes in the playoffs and they never played the Hartford Whaler in the postseason either. The two team met in the Stanley Cup Qualifier in 2020, a three game sweep by the Hurricanes, but that was a different Rangers team played under completely different circumstances.
The Rangers are on a three game winning streak having taken the last three games from the Pittsburgh Penguins. How have they done in the past after coming back from a 3-1 deficit to win?
In 2014 they rode the momentum of three straight wins and took the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals against Montreal, both on the road. Like the Hurricanes, the Canadiens had been extended to seven games in the previous series.
In 2015, after beating the Washington Capitals in three straight, they took the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals against Tampa at Madison Square Garden.
So, those comebacks led to a win in the next round, a history the Rangers would like to repeat.
Restricting ticket sales
In what has to be one of the ultimate bush league moves, the Carolina Hurricanes will not allow anyone from out of the area to buy tickets to the game, if bought directly from the team.
Here’s the language on their website: Very Important!! PNC Arena is located in Raleigh, NC. Sales to this event will be restricted to residents of North Carolina/South Carolina and Southern Virginia. Residency will be based on credit card billing address. Orders by residents outside North Carolina/South Carolina and Southern Virginia will be canceled without notice and refunds given.
Of course, that doesn’t prevent Ranger fans from buying tickets from secondary sellers and the New York Post reported that one such seller predicts that the number of Ranger fans in the arena could reach 30%.
Listen carefully and we may be able to hear an occasional “Potvin sucks” and an impressive number of “Let’s Go Rangers” chants. Having been to a regular season game in Raleigh, I can report that Ranger fans almost outnumbered the local rooters.
Projected lineups
NEW YORK RANGERS
The Rangers are relatively healthy with Barclay Goodrow the only injured regular with what is to be believed to be a broken ankle. Sammy Blais who took a huge step in his return from a torn ACL by practicing with the team today. Coach Gallant wouldn’t even speculate when he could return to action.
20 Kreider – 93 Zibanejad – 77 Vatrano
10 Panarin – 16 Strome – 18 Copp
13 Lafreniere -72 Chytil – 24 Kakko
64 Motte – 17 Rooney – 75 Reaves
55 Lindgren – 23 Fox
79 Miller – 8 Trouba
61 Braun – 54 Schneider
31 Shesterkin
40 Georgiev
CAROLINA HURRICANES
37 Andrei Svechnikov – 20 Sebastian Aho – 24 Seth Jarvis
13 Max Domi – 16 Vincent Trocheck – 86 Teuvo Teravainen
21 Nino Niederreiter — 11 Jordan Staal – 71 Jesper Fast
78 Steven Lorentz – 82 Jesperi Kotkaniemi – 88 Martin Necas
74 Jaccob Slavin – 77 Tony DeAngelo
76 Brady Skjei – 22 Brett Pesce
7 Brendan Smith – 28 Ian Cole
32 Antti Raanta
52 Pyotr Kochetkov
The big injury is to netminder Frederik Andersen who has been out for weeks. Jordan Martinook is also out of action and has missed the last our games with a lower body injury.
How to watch and the live conversation
Gametime is 7pm and there will be no options for watching as all games from now on will be on national television. Tonight’s game and the first four of the series will be on ESPN with the livestream on ESPN+.
MSG Network will be providing pre-game coverage beginning at 6:30pm and will have live postgame coverage while ESPN will go right to the Oilers-Flames game.
Blue Line Station’s live conversation has been a great forum for opinions and comments during the games and it is active now. Feel free to join in and share your joy and frustration as we watch this crazy New York Rangers team.