The real test begins on Sunday at 4pm EST at the Worldās Most Famous Arena! After their first round sweep, the Rangers will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of these 2024 playoffs.
Two teams in the same weight class, two playoff meetings in recent memory and two nearly identical philosophies when it comes to winning hockey games. Without question, this series is going to be exhilarating and one for the ages. The Capitals were the undercard and this is the main event.
Behind the bench, it’s a full-circle moment for head coaches Rod Brind’Amour and Peter Laviolette. Laviolette lifted Lord Stanley as head coach of the Hurricanes in 2006, with none other than Brind’Amour as his captain on the ice. Time has passed, their paths in hockey have diverged, but both share a great deal of respect for each other.
“He’s clearly done a good job. He’s had his team moving in the right direction year after year,” Laviolette remarked in reference to Brind’Amour.
“One of the top teams in the league, chasing what the remaining eight teams will be chasing. There’s no question about that. Not being on the inside and actually getting to work with them, you can just tell that his teams play the right way. They play hard.”
New York Post
X Factors
I see some chatter for Kaapo Kakko and Jack Roslovic as X factors for the Rangers in this series, and for good reason. Both guys have unique skill sets to fend off the Hurricanes’ trademark man-on-man defense they love to deploy. For me though, the X factor if Filip Chytil. It’s hard to know where exactly he is health wise, but apparently he’s medically cleared to play and been practicing with the team. I wonder if Laviolette is going to wait for the current line combinations to drop a game before pulling out the ace in his sleeve. Wisely, Lavi is keeping his cards close to the chest and refusing to show his hand when questioned about lineup decisions by the media ahead of Game 1.
I imagine the unknown throws somewhat of a wrench into Carolina’s game planning and preparation. Matt Rempe is likely the odd man out if Chytil comes in, which gives the Rangers’ forward group an entirely different complexion. Chytil coming back would obviously give the team such an incredible boost from a morale standpoint, aside from fact he’s basically Zibenajad Jr. when he’s at the top of his game.
Areas Of Concern
For the Rangers, the hot topic is their inconsistency in driving offense at 5v5, but Iām most concerned about Adam Fox. Similar to his collision with Sebastian Aho in the regular season, Fox went knee on knee with Nick Jenson in Game 4 against the Capitals and collapsed in a heap. Not the visual any teammate, coach or fan in New York wants to see with the ultimate goal of a Stanley Cup in mind.
Thankfully, Fox finished the game and logged 21:09 of ice time to lead all Rangers defensemen. He only had 2 points in the series (both coming on the power play) which is a bit concerning, but maybe not worth dissecting in an overall series sweep effort. What’s a bit spooky was the back-to-back “maintenance” days at practice on Wednesday and Thursday this past week. The first one makes sense, the second seems very uncharacteristic. Fox is a guy that thrives when he’s in the flow of the game and making his world-class decisions on impulse. To be away from the rink for two straight days doesn’t necessarily add up in that regard and has me worrying.
It was reported that Fox was on the ice for practice on Saturday after an off day on Friday, so I don’t expect him to be out of the lineup for Game 1. Even still, it’ll be interesting to see if he looks like himself out there.
With Carolina, the biggest concern is filling the gap for their defensive specialist and old friend of the Rangers, Jesper Fast. Fast is sidelined indefinitely with a neck injury, giving added responsibility to Jordan Staal in the Hurricanes’ top six. The 35-year-old Staal could have won multiple Selke trophies over the years, if not for Patrice Bergeron hogging the spotlight in Boston. He’s one of this generation’s most responsible forwards and will be expected to live up to his reputation big-time in this series.
Zibanejad got the best of the matchup in the 2022 playoff series, scoring 4 goals in the series and 3 assists in Game 7 alone as an exclamation point. If he’s not shadowing Mika, maybe Staal will be tasked with slowing down the juggernaut line of Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis LafreniĆØre. Pick your poison, it’s going to be a tall order for Staal and the Hurricanes without their silent assassin in the defensive zone in Jesper Fast.
Path To Victory
For the Rangers, the first thing that comes to mind is taking care of business at home. They’re set up nicely as the President’s Trophy winners and must feed off the crowd to take advantage. Lucky for them, Madison Square Garden is somewhat of an enigma from Carolina’s perspective. While they were victorious in their last trip to NYC in January by a score of 6-1, the Canes have only won 4 of their last 23 contests at MSG. If the Rangers are going to advance, look for them to plant the seeds of doubt at home and water them on the road.
For the Hurricanes, winning the special teams battle is going to be critical. The Hurricanes have been pretty dominant on the man advantage, but the Rangers penalty kill is absolutely feeling it right now. They were 6 for 6 against the Capitals, with two short handed goals to boot. The Hurricanes will need to figure out a way to gain the blue line, configure their set, tire out the Rangers’ penalty killers and ultimately solve Shesterkin. On the flip side, Carolina will also have to thwart the Rangers on the man advantage. Panarin & Co. are prone to throwing out different looks on power play, with each guy on the ice posing a different threat. It’ll be paramount for the Hurricanes to get the Rangers’ first unit off the ice by whatever means necessary in order to survive and advance.
Prediction
Both clubs probably aren’t completely satisfied with the way they played in Round 1. The energy, battle level and snarl will be ramped up in this series on both sides, resulting in a highly competitive bout.
I think it’ll be 1-1 leaving New York, 2-2 leaving Carolina and ultimately culminate in a 7th game. At which point, I’d be hard pressed to pick against Igor Shesterkin in a decisive Game 7 at home with the way he’s playing. Rangers in 7.
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