Second Round, Game 1: Hurricanes v. New York Rangers

It feels like just yesterday that these two teams were fighting for the Metropolitan Divison crown. After playing twice in the final month, the Hurricanes and the Rangers are now set to lock horns in a best-of-seven series for the right to represent the division in the Eastern Conference Final. The Canes are coming off a huge Game 7 win over the Bruins on Saturday night, finally overcoming the Bruins after two previous losses in the last four years. The series between the Bruins and the Canes was all about home ice, with the home team winning all seven games in the series. None of the games were particularly close until the final game. With Frederik Andersen out for the first round, Antti Raanta had to step up and play a huge role. He won three of the four games the Canes took in the series, with Pyotr Kochetkov stepping up to play Games 2 and 3 when Raanta went down early in Game 2. The Canes' attack offensively was extremely balanced, with four players tying for the team lead with three goals and four more scoring twice. The Rangers' series with the Pittsburgh Penguins also went seven games and their road to the second round was a lot different. The Rangers fell down 3-1 in the series and Igor Shesterkin was pulled from both Games 3 and 4, both losses. In both Games 5 and 6, New York overcame early 2-0 deficits and won both games 5-3 to even the series and force Game 7 back at Madison Square Garden. They would come out on top in the end with Artemi Panarin scoring in overtime to win the series. The Rangers will start the series without Barclay Goodrow, but they're hopeful that he'll be ready for later in the series. The net will belong to Shesterkin unless things get out of hand quickly. Four games in this series are guaranteed, so it's going to be all about grabbing as much momentum as possible in those before potentially taking this series further. Tonight, it's all about winning that first game for the Canes in front of their fans. They control the series from the beginning by playing at home, so don't look towards New York without handling business at home, starting with Game 1 tonight. 

1st Period

Scoring

(NYR) 7:07- Filip Chytil (2) (assisted by Alexis Lafreniere (3))

Thoughts

Being down 1-0 after the first period isn't where the Canes want to be, but I thought they built a decent period in the second half, so that's something to build on moving forward. The goal from Chytil comes down to a bad turnover from Tony DeAngelo as he tried to move the puck back to Slavin. It was intercepted by Lafreniere and he found Chytil for the one-timer and the goal. Antti Raanta bailed them out a few times with some huge stops. He made one on Chytil with his skate which was especially impressive. It took the Canes a long time to get a shot on Shesterkin and it never felt like anything too big. Arguably their best chance was short-handed, but Jordan Staal threw it a mile over the net. It's just one period and the two teams are still feeling each other out, so give this some time to get going before we rush to any conclusions. 

2nd Period

Scoring

None

Thoughts

It remains a one-goal game after the Rangers got the better of play for most of the period, but couldn't get anything past Raanta. The Canes only got six shots on Shesterkin and it took them forever to get anything of great danger on the net. The Rangers' best chance went off the crossbar from Lafreniere, but Raanta didn't have to do anything amazing to keep this game at 1-0. I'm waiting for the Canes to find their game and get off to a good start in a period and I'm hoping the third period is going to be just that. It's only one goal that needs to be made up, so it only takes one shot to get this back even. Neutralizing the Kid Line seems to be the top priority as the Rangers' best line tonight. Time to get the job done and win this game. 

3rd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 17:37- Sebastian Aho (3) (assisted by Seth Jarvis (3) & Teuvo Teravainen (6))

Thoughts

It took them long enough, but the Canes absolutely dominated the Rangers for 20 minutes. The Canes controlled most of the period, outshooting New York 10-4 and getting the better of the chances throughout. The Canes almost tied it with Nino Niederreiter ringing the crossbar over the shoulder of Shesterkin. The Rangers could've put this game away without needing overtime. Kappo Kakko missed a wide-open net that could've made it 2-0 and iced this game for the Rangers. It was meant to be tonight with Teuvo Teravainen reuniting with Sebastian Aho and starting the play that would result in Aho getting the game-tying goal as he picked up his own rebound to tie it with just under 2:30 left in regulation. The momentum is in the favor of the Canes right now, so they need to come out in overtime the exact same way they did in the third period to steal this win from the Rangers. 

Overtime

Scoring

(CAR) 3:12- Ian Cole (1) (assisted by Brendan Smith (2) & Jesperi Kotkaniemi (1))

Thoughts

The Hurricanes didn't deserve to win that game, but they did it and it was the unlikeliest of heroes. Ian Cole spun and threw a puck on the net, which deflected off the stick of Ryan Lindgren, and beat Shesterkin on the blocker side to give the Canes the win in overtime. We didn't get much action in overtime, but the action we did get was in the Canes' favor and they pulled out the huge win.

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Seth Jarvis (Assist)

We're all living in Jarvis' world right now because he's not playing like it's his first time in the playoffs. The chemistry he has with Aho is well-documented and he made a great pass to set up the game-tying goal late in the third period. What stood out to me on his line tonight was that he finished with seven hits, second-most in the game behind Jesper Fast. He stepped up when the Canes needed someone tonight. 

Second Star- Sebastian Aho (Goal)

Aho was quiet in the final two games of the Boston series, so there were some eyes on him to get things going in this opening game against New York. He wasn't super noticeable in the first two periods, but he came alive in the third. He rang the post early in the period before tying the game by picking up his own rebound to pump some life into the arena. He's going to need to outplay the Rangers' stars for the Canes to win this series. 

First Star- Antti Raanta (27 Saves on 28 Shots)

He may not have done much in the final 23:12 of the game, only seeing five total shots in the third period and overtime, so his work in the first two was even bigger in hindsight. After the Rangers scored, he made some massive saves to keep the game 1-0 and allowed the Canes to stay in it to force overtime and eventually win the game. 

Final Thoughts

Let me start with the not-so-good things. The Canes were the second-best team on the ice for most of this game. The Rangers played their game in the first 40 minutes and had the Canes on their heels the entire time. They scored the opening goal and then never allowed the Canes to think about tying it, allowing just 14 shots. A lot of the Canes playmakers were not present tonight. Andrei Svechnikov looked like he was fighting something all night. The Kid Line ran roughshod on the Canes' defense and did just about anything they wanted, not to mention they scored the only goal for the Rangers. However, despite all the negatives in the first two periods, it took just one period for the Canes to get the game to overtime and two shots in overtime to win the game and take the series lead. Putting Aho and Teravainen back together seemed to do the trick. What this game really boils down to is Antti Raanta just outplayed the likely Vezina winner and the Canes were the benefactor of a very lucky bounce in overtime. Even if it was lucky, you create your own luck in the postseason and that's what Ian Cole did on the game-winner. On the surface, this gives the Canes the lead in the series with a lot of the series left to play. Deeper than that, it puts some doubt in the Rangers because they played a great game, but didn't do enough to finish the Canes off. At the end of the day, it's just one game and they need three more to get the job done. They're going to need a spirited effort on Friday night because another game like this is likely to go in the Rangers' favor.