Round Two Between the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers Starts From the Garden
By Conor Power
It's game day. It's time for the New York Rangers to begin their second-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes. New York will go from competing against the worst team to make the 2023-24 playoffs to the second-best team in the Eastern Conference. There is no easy playoff series, but this is another level as the two dominant forces of the Metropolitan Division title will compete for the right to represent the division in the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
K'Andre Miller and Adam Fox will be good to go for New York despite rumors plaguing the organization. K'Andre Miller took a puck to the face in practice yesterday, but nothing was wrong. Adam Fox received a knee-on-knee hit from Nick Jensen in game four of the series against the Washington Capitals and required a couple of days off to recover, but he is now in a position to be able to go tonight.
On the Carolina injury front, Jesper Fast is set to miss this series as he suffered a neck injury in the season's final game. Defenseman Brett Pesce is out of a walking boot after a lower-body injury sustained in game two against the New York Islanders, but he did not make the trip to New York. Former Ranger Anthony DeAngelo left game 5 against the Islanders early after being slashed but was medically cleared to return to play against the Blueshirts.
Projected Lineups
Carolina Hurricanes
Jake Guentzel - Sebastian Aho - Andrei Svechnikov
Jordan Martinook - Jack Drury - Martin Necas
Teuvo Teravainen - Jordan Staal - Seth Jarvis
Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Stefan Noesen
Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Brady Skjei - Anthony DeAngelo
Dmitry Orlov - Jalen Chatfield
Frederik Andersen
Pyotr Kochetkov
New York Rangers
Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Jack Roslovic
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle - Alex Wennberg - Kaapo Kakko
Jimmy Vesey - Barclay Goodrow - Matt Rempe
Ryan Lindgren - Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller - Braden Schneider
Erik Gustafsson - Jacob Trouba
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Puck Drop
Tonight's game will start at 4 p.m. Eastern as a matinee from the Garden gets round two underway. New York won the President's Trophy and finished the season three points clear of the Hurricanes, but the Canes went all in with major deadline acquisitions. Can the New York Rangers overcome their divisional adversary, or will the Hurricanes send another Rangers season in disappointment? Only one way to find out.