2024 Postseason: 2nd Round, Game 1: Hurricanes at New York Rangers

After both teams played a relatively quick series in the 1st Round, the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers began their 2nd Round series at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Both squads are well-rested after downing the Islanders in five games and the Capitals in four games, respectively. New York owned the slight edge during the regular season, winning two of the three meetings and winning the division by three points. With a pair of high-powered offenses, sturdy defenses, and goalies playing out of their minds, this is going to be an incredible series, beginning with Game 1 tonight.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

NYR (2:46)- Mika Zibanejad (2) (assisted by Jack Roslovic (3) & Adam Fox (3))

CAR (3:48)- Jaccob Slavin (1) (assisted by Sebastian Aho (2) & Jake Guentzel (4))

NYR (10:05)- Mika Zibanejad (3) PP (assisted by Chris Kreider (2) & Vincent Trocheck (4))

NYR (16:28)- Vincent Trocheck (4) PP (assisted by Mika Zibanejad (7) & Chris Kreider (3))

2nd Period

None

3rd Period

CAR (2:48)- Martin Necas (2) (assisted by Jordan Martinook (1) & Dmitry Orlov (1))

NYR (8:11)- Artemi Panarin (3) (assisted by Alexis Lafreniere (5))

CAR (18:13)- Seth Jarvis (4) (assisted by Sebastian Aho (3) & Brent Burns (2))

My Thoughts

I feel like I'm going to need to limit my online presence during this series because I nearly lost my mind reading some of the stuff on the internet as the game was going on. I know Hurricanes fans get flack for "not knowing the game" despite being one of the most relevant organizations in the league for the past few seasons, but Rangers fans might be some of the most delusional people on the planet. I'm sure it's not all of them, but the bad ones top just about any other fanbase in the league. I probably shouldn't be saying anything, considering my team lost, but I genuinely don't care. I struggle with which group I dislike more between the Rangers and the Bruins. It's not that I don't respect either team. I really do. The Rangers have some of the most incredibly skilled players in the league. It's their fans who make this team impossible to cheer for. 

The big topic of conversation early in the game was the hit by Tony DeAngelo on Will Cuylle and the subsequent penalty fiasco. Martin Necas was given the initial penalty for tripping, but the referees announced that they were reviewing the play for a potential major penalty. The referees looked back at it, called DeAngelo for roughing, and Mika Zibanejad scored nine seconds later. I'm almost certain this entire situation was mishandled. For starters, you can't review a tripping penalty, so there's no reason the referees should've gone to the monitor in the first place. Second, they can downgrade a major to a minor, but they can't completely change the type of penalty AND who it's on with a review. Third, and arguably the most important, DeAngelo laid a clean hit, so there shouldn't have been a penalty on him in the first place. The referees had a rough game overall. Several of the calls they made were just awful, and that's for both sides. Matt Rempe didn't interfere with Frederik Andersen. Jacob Trouba didn't cross-check Stefan Noesen. They took five minutes to confirm a very clear DOGPOG penalty. The stripes didn't have a good night, and it ruined what was an otherwise fun game. 

While the officiating left a lot to be desired, the Hurricanes lost this game because they were awful on special teams. They hit the post on their first power play, but that was about it. They had four full power plays in the game and generated next to nothing offensively. They drew a power play with 40 seconds left, but Andrei Svechnikov took a tripping penalty off the draw, killing the Canes' comeback. Their penalty kill was just as bad. New York got two chances on the power play, and they needed just 23 seconds to score twice. That's the difference in the game. If the Hurricanes come up with just one kill, we're looking at a different game. This was the biggest area of focus I had coming into this series. The winner of the special teams battle is going to win the series. New York won it in Game 1, and they won the game.

At 5-on-5, I liked the Hurricanes' game. The first period was focused primarily on special teams, but the Canes had a slight edge at even strength. They were able to generate offense, keeping themselves in the game to make a push in the third period. Despite not looking great in the first, the Canes were in this game until the bitter end. It's not like in 2022 when the Rangers dominated the Canes at Madison Square Garden during all three games in New York. Some guys didn't look like they were on their game tonight, but I liked the effort from the top guys. If the Canes can clean up their special teams before Tuesday night, they stand a much better chance of evening the series.

My Three Stars of the Game

3rd Star- Jaccob Slavin- 1 goal

It's hard to look fondly at the Hurricanes' defense tonight, especially with how they looked on the penalty kill, but I still thought Slavin put together a solid game. Slavin led the defense with three shots, including the tying goal early in the first period after a favorable bounce. Slavin also made a great stretch pass to spring Staal on a breakaway in the second. 

2nd Star- Sebastian Aho- 2 assists

Zibanejad is going to dominate headlines with his three-point game, but Aho had a strong game to lead the Canes. Aho was the lone Hurricane to record multiple points, earning primary assists on Slavin's and Jarvis' goals tonight. He only finished with one shot, which needs to improve, but his four hits were tied for the team lead. With the Canes down 1-0 in the series, I'm expecting a fired-up Aho for Game 2. 

1st Star- Jake Guentzel- 1 assist

While he wasn't rewarded with more than an assist tonight, Guentzel was the most dangerous Hurricane in the game. Harkening back to his days with the Penguins, Guentzel was all over the ice, finishing with a game-high five shots, most of which came from within a few feet of the crease. He was very stout in the first round, but he'll need to find that next gear against a much tougher opponent.

Next Game- With the first five games taking place every other day, Game 2 will be on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. The biggest question will be who is in the Canes' net on Tuesday. While I don't pin this loss on Frederik Andersen, it might be worthwhile to go with Pyotr Kochetkov.