Rangers eliminate Hurricanes to reach Eastern final

It’s not like the Rangers are celery stalks. They have, after all, just won the President’s Trophy, awarded to the best team of the season in the NHL.

And we couldn’t remove from the equation the fact that Chris Kreider, a favorite of the Montreal public, had one of the most inspired periods of a playoff game that we have seen in a long time.

View the meeting summary

However, if the Carolina Hurricanes joined the ranks of eliminated teams, it is above all their fault. Their very great fault, even.

Ahead 3-1 at the start of the third period, Thursday evening, Rod Brind’Amour’s men saw their opponents score four consecutive goals to win 5-3, put an end to the series in six games and advance to the Eastern final. The Rangers having won the first three duels, the Canes certainly have the merit of having reduced the gap, even coming close to causing a seventh and final meeting. But coming close never made anyone win. Talk to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In fact, talk to the Hurricanes about it, too. It’s not like this is the first time the ball has slipped out of their hands. A year ago, they may have reached the association final, but that was only to be eliminated in four games. What also happened to them in 2019, Brind’Amour’s first season behind the bench.

In fact, in six years of his reign, his team lost the series twice 4-0 and twice 4-1, ending his season. This year’s duel against the Rangers was closer, but the collapse of this sixth game will leave a deep mark.

Inspired by a delirious crowd, the locals took leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in the first two thirds. The visitors, on the other hand, seemed unable to threaten goalkeeper Frederik Andersen. The latter, however, seemed well disposed to distribute the gifts, struggling to control his returns and sometimes struggling with routine shots. Had it not been for a spectacular save by forward Jordan Martinook, who prevented the puck from crossing the goal line in the second period, the New Yorkers would have started their comeback earlier.

Then what was supposed to happen happened. The Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho and Jake Guentzel hit the post twice early in the third period, but remember what we said above about the value of “passing close”? At the other end of the ice, Andersen ended up allowing the bad goal that seemed to have been hanging over his nose for a long time: 3-2. The Canes were visibly shaken and captain Jordan Staal received a very inappropriate penalty: 3-3. Nothing was going right anymore.

The next goal, Kreider’s third in a row, we saw coming from a long way away: 4-3. Goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin, unimpressive in the first half of the match, did the rest, frustrating Andrei Svechnikov in particular at the end.

Changes

At the risk of repeating myself, despite all the qualities of the Rangers, the Hurricanes were perfectly in control of this meeting. Their defensive brilliance this season could, and should, have allowed them to close the books at 3-1. That didn’t happen. They sorely missed Brett Pesce on defense, it’s true. But it would be short-sighted to stick to this argument.

This franchise, over the last six years, has built the undesirable reputation of an excellent, even dominant, club during the season, but incapable of finishing off its opponents in the playoffs. We were talking about the Leafs, and it’s not accidental. Since 2018-19, five of the seven teams with the most ranking points have reached the final (Boston, Florida) or won the Cup (Tampa Bay, Colorado, Vegas). The other two are Toronto and Carolina.

The comparison does not hold up in all respects, since in the Brind’Amour era, the Hurricanes won seven playoff rounds. There is obviously a value to this… but this value is necessarily colored by the nature of the setbacks which, most of the time, put an end to their hopes.

Speaking of Brind’Amour, we can legitimately wonder if he will be back next fall. It is rare for a head coach to spend the last year of his contract without renewal; However, this was the case in 2023-2024. Will we look for a “new voice” to inspire this talented group? We wouldn’t be surprised.

The workforce could also seriously change its face. Teuvo Teravainen, Jake Guentzel, Jordan Martinook, Stefan Noesen, Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce, among others, are preparing to become unrestricted free agents. Even more complex: Seth Jarvis, Martin Nečas and Jack Drury will be, from 1^er July, restricted free agents. And the organization will only have around thirty million to spend, according to the CapFriendly site. The sacrifices could be cruel, unless we manage to part with less efficient players, for example Brent Burns, Dmitry Orlov or, the most obvious example, Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

All these hot files were invariably waiting for the team’s management in the detour. However, we deduce that the Hurricanes believed they had to attack them a few weeks later, perhaps even after winning the Stanley Cup.

We know it won’t happen. By their fault. Their very great fault.