Southern critters love their family habitat.
Carolina hurricanes are not exactly creatures, but they are creatures of habit. And there is no place as a home for these hurricanes.
Turning a relentless overnight assault into a 3-1 win over the visiting New York Rangers, the Cannes have already won all seven playoff games at home this season, the backbone of their series-leading 3- 2 on New York this season. the best of seven semifinals of the Eastern Conference. In Round 1, Carolina won all four home games to beat the Boston Bruins in seven games.
This was the hockey of Cannes at the time: the visiting Rangers could barely move without a Carolina player approaching.
“This is the kind of game we’ve been waiting for,” said Cannes head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “We’ve been playing well, but tonight has been very good. That’s more obviously how we want to play.”
As assertive as the home team is showing their stupid Raleigh fans, the Rangers stayed in this game thanks to goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin. It wasn’t until Andrei Svechnikov scored on a breakaway with just under seven minutes to go that Carolina had some breathing space.
Given that Shesterkin had given Carolina just five goals in the first four games, this Cannes trio of goals seemed like a deluge. That slow power play was scored, Carolina controlled the game and Svechnikov scored his first goal of the series meant the home team scored a lot of squares tonight.
Antti Raanta, the 33-year-old substitute who continues to write his personal story this spring, stifled any possible Rangers concentration and was sharp when needed, while only facing 17 shots from New York. Carolina pumped 34 at Shesterkin.
At the start of the second period, the Rangers thought they had gone 2-1 ahead with a Ryan Strome shot, but that goal was taken off the board when the Cannes challenged the offside play. Rehearsals confirmed that Andrew Copp was still inside the area when the Rangers took the record.
Brind’Amour had a hard time on the waterlogged pitch – his trademark technique was nowhere in sight today.
“Once we saw it, I don’t know why it took so long,” he said.
Brind’Amour admitted it’s a “different game” if the Rangers take the lead there.
About five minutes after that punch for the visitors, they received another blow: a power goal from Teuvo Teravainen. As the Rangers did with their power-play goal, it came quickly, out of the set-up of a winning match. Teravainen turned a perfect pass from 20-year-old Seth Jarvis.
“I mean, it was a great Jarvy play,” Teravainen said. “To find that seam and wear it, I just tried to catch it and shoot it right away.”
As simple as Teravainen sounded, his coach was more effusive in his description of the shot.
“This is a great catch and shoot,” Brind’Amour said, adding that the big moments are never too big for the Finnish winger, who has quietly amassed 10 points in 11 playoff games for Carolina. .
Cannes should have taken their lead, if Sebastian Aho hadn’t developed the idea. He fired two shots from the post, including a glorious chance alone in the slot at the end of the second.
After the initial confrontation, the hurricanes arose only with the mixture of energy and forecheck attack for which they are known.
“They play a dynamic style,” New York’s Tyler Motte said before the game. “They’re very physical at home.”
The Canes finally scored a goal in the first period of the series, if not as expected.
With Svechnikov out for boarding, the Canes made a couple of early clears in the slaughter and then brought about a change of business on their own blue line that led to a double on the other side. Vincent Trocheck’s Jordan Staal swung in a good chance from the right, but the visitors’ defense were able to clear the ball.
The Hurricanes only had four short-term goals all season, but now they have two in that series.
If this awesome kill / shortie can mean that Carolina could play fast and loose with her discipline, think again. A second careless penalty in the first period, this time a cross from Ian Cole, resulted in a draw outside the Rangers’ power play.
Mika Zibanejad, who emerged as the best playoff player this spring, won the match in his “shadow”, Staal, and then put himself in position for a pass, which turned with a stopwatch a booming fair inside the pole next to the Raanta mast. .
Zibanejad now has a three-game winning streak while making 15 points in the playoffs.
Chris Kreider, New York’s 52-goal regular season player, has not scored a point in all three games at Raleigh, but promises a rebound at home.
“There’s always disappointment, frustration, anger when you lose a hockey game, especially at this level,” said Kreider, who didn’t score a shot on goal Thursday but made a drip in the third period.
“The best thing about playoff hockey is that we have another chance. Essential game, playing at home, keeping the service going and giving us a chance to play better here.”
Game 6 of this series is on Saturday in New York, where the Rangers expect the ice trend at home to continue, at least one more night.
“We’ve been in that position before and I like our opportunities on home ice,” Strome said. “We are familiar with this situation and have the opportunity to bring it to fruition.”