By WRAL

Carolina Hurricanes	2
New York Rangers	1
ESPN | 1st – 00:00

New York — The Carolina Hurricanes look to rebound and win Game 2 of the series against the New York Rangers after falling in Game 1 on Sunday.

“We had our looks,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said on Monday. “We just didn’t convert and that’s the difference. We got to find a way to get more looks, and that’s easy. You’d like to have more opportunities when you get your power plays.

Something to keep in mind for the Canes – Carolina has made the postseason in six straight years, but the last time they were able to win a series after starting 0-2 was in the 2018-19 first round against the Washington Capitals, where they won in 7 games. On top of that, the Hurricanes are 4-12 on the road in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the 2021-22 season.

Injury news for the Canes early on – ESPN’s Emily Kaplan is reporting that Evgeny Kuznetsov is a healthy scratch and will not play in Game 2. The 31-year-old joined the Canes at the trade deadline after being previously with the Capitals. He has two goals and two assists in the postseason. Max Comtois will play in his place. It’s his first NHL playoff game, but has played 211 games in the regular season. He played in the final game of the regular season for the Canes, netting an assist against the Blue Jackets.

The Rangers found the back of the net first, a shot to the left corner by Alexis Lafreniere assisted by K’Andre Miller and Alex Wennberg. New York leads 1-0 in the first period and is outscoring the Canes 4-1 in the first period this series.

While the Canes failed to score on a power play early in this one, they had their first successful penalty kill of the series after Andre Svechnikov was called for tripping against Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin.

With just under five minutes remaining in the first period, we have a Canes goal. Sebastian Aho rips a one-timer into the crease and Jake Guentzel was there for the re-direct past Shesterkin. It’s Guentzel’s second goal of the postseason and the fourth and fifth assists for Sebasitan Aho and Svechnikov respectively, a 1-1 tie.

And then with just eight seconds left in the first period during a 4-on-4 stretch, Brady Skjei rifled the puck toward the net and Dmitry Orlov tipped it for the goal. It’s Orlov’s second goal of the postseason as well as the sixth assist for Skjei and the second assist of the game for Aho, Canes go into the first intermission up 2-1.

Preview

The Carolina Hurricanes trail in a series for the first time this postseason – and it was their special teams that put them in this position.

The difference in Sunday’s 4-3 loss to the New York Rangers in Game 1 of their best-of-seven series was illustrated by the special teams efforts by each team.

The Rangers scored on both power plays they drew and killed five penalties, dominating when it wasn’t 5-on-5. New York scored The Canes scored zero power play goals in 12 minutes of penalty time.

The Hurricanes had the second-best power play in the NHL during the regular season and the top penalty-killing unit. That was nowhere to be seen in Game 1, which looked like a continuation of the 2022 second-round series where the Canes dropped all three games played in New York.

Game 2 is 7 p.m. Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

“We had our looks,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said on Monday. “We just didn’t convert and that’s the difference. We got to find a way to get more looks, and that’s easy. You’d like to have more opportunities when you get your power plays.

“They did a nice job blocking shots and they did pressure us at the right times. And the execution wasn’t quite where it needed to be, but again, that’s the nature of the game.”

Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen stopped 19 shots, but allowed a back-breaking fourth goal in the third period. It was uncharacteristic of his play in Carolina’s 4-1 series victory in the first round against the New York Islanders. Artemi Panarin’s goal made it 4-2 with 8:21 left to play.

Through much of the game, the Hurricanes trailed in shots on goal and appeared timid at times while in the offensive zone. Carolina finished with 25 shots, its lowest total of the postseason.

Carolina was whistled for numerous offensive zone penalties, including a tripping call on Andrei Svechnikov that erased a 6-on-4 advantage in the final minute and diminished the Canes’ chances of completing a rally.

“At the end of the day, they made three high-end plays,” Brind’Amour said. “Generally, you usually tip your hat. They know exactly what we were trying to do. We also know that too and we just were a tad late.”

Mika Zibanejad, who scored twice Sunday, has an 11-game point streak, including the regular season, with five goals and 13 assists in the stretch. Zibanejad scored off a no-look, behind-the-back pass from Chris Kreider to give the Rangers the lead for keeps at 2-1 halfway through the first period.

Carolina Hurricanes – New York Rangers Eastern Conference Semifinal schedule

• Game 1: Sunday, May 5 – Rangers 4, Hurricanes 3
• Game 2: Tuesday, May 7 – 7 p.m., Madison Square Garden
• Game 3: Thursday, May 9 – 7 p.m., PNC Arena
• Game 4: Saturday, May 11 – 7 p.m., PNC Arena
• Game 5: Monday, May 13, TBA, Madison Square Garden
• Game 6: Thursday, May 16, TBA, PNC Arena
• Game 7: Saturday, May 18, TBA, Madison Square Garden

Source: wralsportsfan.com