The New York Rangers return home knowing they need a home win to maintain the postseason. The Carolina Hurricanes are still looking for their first road victory in these playoffs.
After Carolina won 3-1 on Thursday night to take a 3-2 lead in the series, the Rangers will look to force a decisive game in the second round when they host the Hurricanes in Game 6 on Saturday night (20 : 00 EDT, ESPN) on Sportsnet.
“We lost a game and we didn’t play as well as we could, so I was disappointed,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said on Friday. “This is the playoffs, that’s how it’s going. We’ll be ready to go tomorrow night and that’s what we’re looking forward to.
“Just worry about tomorrow and take care of business.”
An essential game for these Rangers is nothing new. They fell 3-1 to Pittsburgh in the first round, then won three in a row, becoming the first team in NHL history to overcome a deficit in three straight playoff games, to advance.
“We’ve been in that position before,” said New York striker Ryan Strome. “I like our chances on the ice at home. … We’re familiar with the situation. We’ve had a chance at home to push it to (Game) 7 and that’s all we’re worried about now.”
The Rangers also fell behind in the series after losing the first two games to Carolina. They returned home and won Games 3 and 4 to tie the series. Now, they have to win again at home to tie the series once again.
“The feel of this dressing room is very safe at all times and I think the first series helped a bit,” Strome said. “And having to win Games 3 and 4 (in this series) is quite essential. Matches and we did a very good job. We can draw from these experiences.”
And what these experiences have taught the Rangers is to have a unique focus on the task at hand and not to worry about the series or the deficits.
“Well, you have your back against the wall,” Gallant said. “Go out and play your game. You know that if you lose this game there is no tomorrow. We did the last series very well, we hope to be able to do it again tomorrow. I don’t think we will change any strategy. We just go there and we play our game ”.
Striker Chris Kreider agreed, adding: “We have to win a game … A lot of things we could get (lost in the fifth game) and do better. Learn from that and win a game. Win the first one, change, win the first period and get out of here. ”
The Hurricanes are also trying to win a game: on the road, for the first time in the postseason. After their last win, they improved to 7-0 at home, but are 0-5 as visitors.
Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour is not worried about the lack of victories on the team’s road, although he acknowledges that people talk about it a lot.
“That’s not a problem,” he said. “It’s all I hear non-stop. We haven’t played badly on the road. Our game has gone well. There are a couple of things that have gone like squirrels. … We’re playing with good teams. That’s how it goes. ”.
The Hurricanes regained the lead in the series with a strong defensive effort in Game 5, limiting the Rangers to 17 shots on goal, including five in each of the first two periods.
“He’s transferring, obviously we hope so,” Brind’Amour said. “I don’t usually take a lot of stock from one game to the next, good or bad. It’s always the next game and it takes a life of its own, but definitely the way we want to do it.”
If the Hurricanes keep up their trend this postseason, Decisive Game 7 would be home on Monday night. But that’s not something they want to think about right now.
“We will give our best,” Brind’Amour said. “We’ll try to win (Saturday). We do it every night. It doesn’t really change anything. Obviously we don’t want to go back (home) and play another game. We’ll do our best to win tomorrow night.”