The Carolina Hurricanes once again imposed their dominance at home and defeated the New York Rangers 3-1 on Thursday night to take a 3-2 series lead.
Updated yesterday at 10:59 p.m.
The Carolina Hurricanes played their 12e playoff game Thursday night at Raleigh. And for the 12e times the home team won.
With their 3-1 win, the Canes took a 3-2 series lead against the New York Rangers. As is very often the case, they strictly applied a system of play built on impeccable positioning, while seizing their scoring opportunities when they presented themselves.
Rod Brind’Amour was one of the fine defensive centers in the NHL during his 20-year career. A particularly intelligent player, he mastered the nuances of defensive play. So it’s no surprise to see his team excel without the puck, especially when playing at home.
When Brind’Amour has the advantage of being able to make the final change, he can pit his defensive trio of Jordan Staal, Nino Niederreiter and Jesper Fast against that of Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Frank Vatrano. Zibanejad scored Rangers’ goal on Thursday night, but did so on the power play.
The Canes have allowed only 8 goals in 7 games at the PNC Arena since the start of the tournament. But when they were playing on the road, their opponents, the Rangers and the Boston Bruins, totaled 21 goals in 5 games. Quite a contrast.
Although it is not as much as in the 90s when Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Dominik Hasek and Ed Belfour regularly allowed their team to win almost alone, the presence of Andrei Vasilevskiy in front of the goal of the Tampa Bay Lightning demonstrates that having a top goaltender is still important.
That being said, having two good goalkeepers in one team has perhaps never been more important than it is these days, and Antti Raanta has been demonstrating that for the past three weeks. The absence of Frederik Andersen, who still hasn’t played since the start of the qualifiers, could have been an insurmountable obstacle for the Canes. Raanta, however, gave another very good performance in the 5e match.
Must say that the task of Raanta was greatly facilitated by his teammates. After the first 45 minutes of play, Rangers had shot on goal only 11 times. They finished the game with 17 meager shots.
Midway through the third period, the Hurricanes bottled up the Rangers in their territory on a long streak with flawless marking and unerring positional play. The “Caniacs” praised the work of their favorites by raising the decibels and spinning their white towels in the air. Twenty-five years after the late Hartford Whalers arrived in Carolina, Hurricanes fans are among the most vocal and engaged in the NHL. Who would have thought, Raleigh is now a hockey town.
The invisible Man
Igor Shesterkin had allowed just 5 goals for the Hurricanes in the previous 4 games and kept Rangers in the game until Andrei Svechnikov scored the hosts’ third goal with 7 minutes remaining. Vincent Trocheck and Teuvo Teravainen scored the other two goals for the Hurricanes, respectively on the shorthanded and on the powerplay.
Trocheck was particularly good. Fiery as he always is, he created many scoring chances and set the tone for his team. The Hurricanes will likely try to sign Trocheck to a new contract before the free agent market opens on July 13.
Let’s hope for them that they haven’t already spent some of the money needed to keep Trocheck in Carolina by granting an eight-year extension to Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who could very well be dubbed the invisible man. Nearly 5 million (4.82) per year for a player who spends more time sitting on the ice than standing on his skates? Very debatable as a decision.
Thursday night, the former Habs stood out when he completely missed a pass that led to a counterattack and one of the few Rangers scoring chances in the third period.
If they want to continue their road to a championship, the Hurricanes will sooner or later have to get a contribution from Kotkaniemi and another young attacker who is slow to unlock, Martin Necas. Both players are yet to score after 12 playoff games. Kotkaniemi has one assist and a -4 differential.
Rangers star players have been very quiet, too. We still wonder if Artemi Panarin was playing… The striker finished the game without a shot on goal, but blocked 4, which is notable for a player recognized for his offensive brilliance.
Win in New York
After playing 7 games with the Bruins in the first round, the Hurricanes would win by ending their series against the Rangers on Saturday in New York. It is recalled that the Lightning is re-energized since the correction it served to the Florida Panthers.
To do this, of course, they will have to achieve what they have not always been able to do: savor victory on the opponent’s ice. Never easy to go beat the blue shirt at Madison Square Garden in the playoffs.
A good performance from Sebastian Aho would certainly help. He has scored 8 points at home, but only one on the road since the start of the playoffs.
Brind’Amour should also consider replacing the young Seth Jarvis with Svechnikov or, why not, Staal, if only occasionally. The presence of a slightly more imposing and robust striker like Svechnikov or Staal certainly wouldn’t hurt Aho and his linemate Teravainen. With a little more room to create, the two Finns could send Rangers on vacation.