The New York Rangers will look to avoid the dreaded 0-3 playoff hole when they host the Carolina Hurricanes this Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Will the Rangers cut their series deficit in half? Or will the Hurricanes keep on winning? Check out our preview below of this Hurricanes vs. Rangers 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs tilt.
The Hurricanes continue to have success in the playoffs even though they are still missing their no. 1 goalie Frederik Andersen, thanks to the exceptional play of Antti Raanta. Carolina’s backup goalie has been sensational in the second round, especially in Game 2 when he stopped all 21 shots he faced. The Rangers have the better goalie in the matchup, but Raanta is matching up nicely against Igor Shesterkin. Then again, he’s enjoying slightly healthier run support in this series, with the Hurricanes outscoring the Rangers so far, 4-1. Sebastian Aho is answering the call for the Canes, as he’s got two of his team’s total goals in the series. The key right now for the Hurricanes is to either provide Raanta a thicker cushion or get better play from the blue line to help their goalie because they can’t just expect him to keep playing the hero between the pipes.
The Hurricanes are 4-0 in their last 4 games as the road favorite.
The Rangers are getting good scoring chances. They just couldn’t make enough to get command of the series. But with the series going to Madison Square Garden, the Rangers could finally get their offense going. So far in the series, the Rangers are even ahead of Carolina in terms of expected goals with 4.4 to 4.16 by the Hurricanes. That’s not a big difference, but it shows just how close the series has been played. Nevertheless, they have to love what they’re seeing from Shesterkin, who struggled in the first round versus the Penguins and is now rejuvenated. What New York needs is for the likes of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, and Artemi Panarin to get hot, which could happen this Sunday at The Garden. Zibanejad leads the Rangers in the playoff with 11 points, while Kreider paces the team with 5 goals.
The Rangers are 12-3 in their last 15 games on a Sunday.
