The New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes meet Friday in game 2 of the East Second Round NHL Playoffs at the PNC Arena. The New York Rangers look to even things up at 1-1 before going home. The Carolina Hurricanes have a chance to take a quick 2-0 series lead.
The New York Rangers are averaging 3.63 goals per game and are scoring on 30 percent of their power play opportunities. Chris Kreider leads New York with 5 goals, Mike Zibanejad has 8 assists, and Ryan Strome has 29 shots on goal. Defensively, the New York Rangers are allowing 3.88 goals per game and are killing 75 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Igor Shesterkin has allowed 27 goals on 303 shots faced, and Alexandar Georgiev has given up 2 goals on 31 shots.
The Carolina Hurricanes are averaging 3.25 goals per game and are scoring on 13.5 percent of their power play opportunities. Nino Niederreiter leads Carolina with 3 goals, Tony DeAngelo has 7 assists and Seth Jarvis has 22 shots on goal. Defensively, the Carolina Hurricanes are allowing 2.63 goals per game and are killing 80 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Antti Raanta has allowed 13 goal on 193 shots faced, and Pyotr Kochetkov has given up 6 goals on 60 shots.
The Rangers are 4-1 in their last 5 Friday games and 2-5 in their last 7 Conference Semifinals games. The Hurricanes are 40-18 in their last 58 games following a win and 11-3 in their last 14 overall. The over is 7-1 in Rangers last 8 overall. The over is 8-2-1 in Hurricanes last 11 overall. The Rangers are 1-4 in the last 5 meetings in Carolina and 35-17 in the last 52 meetings.
The New York Rangers have shown heart throughout these playoffs, and they had their chances to win game one, so I wouldn’t give up on them just yet. However, having a chance to win that game to just lose in overtime is a crushing blow and only gives the Canes more confidence. The Carolina Hurricanes are already winning 72.8 percent of their last 59 home games. The Canes are also winning 72.8 percent of their last 70 games as a favorite. The Rangers have lost four of their last five road games. Don’t love the juice, but I like the Hurricanes to take a 2-0 series lead.