RALEIGH, NC (AP) – The Carolina Hurricanes have the ice advantage at home with the flawless record when they play in front of their local crowd. The New York Rangers have proven endurance with a perfect mark in elimination games.
Both are based on those experiences in another game 7 Monday night, the second clash with the winner for each of these Stanley Cup playoffs. The winner goes to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the reigning two-time Cup champion Tampa Bay.
“We feel we have a recipe for success, but they probably have one too,” Rangers striker Andrew Copp said Sunday, adding: “It will be a matter of who can play closer to a perfect game tomorrow. “.
The Hurricanes outscored the Rangers for the Metropolitan Division title in a race that reached the final week of the regular season. That, along with the release of the NHL’s third-best record, secured a second-round home ice advantage at the PNC Arena, where they are 7-0 in any team’s longest streak to start a postseason since 2014. .
This proved vital to surviving a first-round series against a Boston team that had twice eliminated the Cannes from the playoffs in the past three seasons, with Carolina winning a Game 7 at home after losing all three games on the road.
The Hurricanes are back in this position, keeping the home service but losing all three road games against the Rangers.
“I think we’re focusing a little too much on this thing at home and away,” Carolina center Vincent Trocheck said. “I mean, it’s a hockey game. When you go out on the ice, you’re not really focused on whether you’ll go back to bed after the game or go to a hotel.”
Carolina can improve up to 7-0 in Game 7 since the former Hartford Whalers moved to North Carolina in 1997.
The Rangers are not baffled by the challenge, although they have only managed one victory in six playoff games. New York bounced back from a 3-1 loss in the first round of the series against Pittsburgh, including a home game in the sixth game, and advanced with a home game in the seventh game.
The Rangers have recovered from a 0-2 draw in this game and forced Game 7 after winning their fourth straight playoff game this postseason with Game 6 on Saturday night.
“I think from day one we talked about getting up when you’re down,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “It simply came to our notice then. … We are a young team, we have a lot of fun and they believe in themselves ”.
The Rangers led most of Game 1 to Raleigh before falling to overtime. They never led the next two games in Carolina, with the Hurricanes controlling the game and holding the Rangers to 17 shots, as well as a season low, in Thursday’s game 5, as Gallant said his team “looked like tired “and not” competitive enough “. ”
But the Rangers bounced back from Madison Square Garden, scoring a power-play goal for the fourth straight game against the league’s best regular-season penalty kill. Midfielder Mika Zibanejad also scored a goal for the fourth straight game, the longest streak of a Rangers player since 2007, while Igor Shesterkin was once again strong on the net.
These are areas of concern for Carolina to enter Game 7. The Hurricanes scored a power goal in Game 5, but otherwise are 10 for 94 (10.6%) in 30 games since last March.
In addition, Antti Raanta, who worked as a starter with No. 1 goalkeeper Frederik Andersen, had his first playoff stumble by conceding three goals before being dismissed in the second period.
“Listen, it wasn’t all for him,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “He let in a couple who would like to come back. He’s just getting ready for Game 7. That’s kind of a mentality.”
The Rangers are in their first game 7 since beating Pittsburgh in the second round of the 2014 playoffs, and are trying to reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2015.
The Hurricanes try to return to the Eastern Finals for the second time in four seasons. They had an unexpected career there in 2019 in the first season of Brind’Amour as a coach after a nine-year playoff drought.
“You have to enjoy those moments because that’s great,” said Brind’Amour, who admits he’s more nervous as a coach than his playing days. “It’s very special to have an opportunity like this.”