The Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Islanders meet Sunday in Game 1 Eastern Conference NHL Playoffs Second Round action at Madison Square Garden. Here’s a NY Rangers vs Carolina Hurricanes Prediction.
Carolina Hurricanes Team Preview
Sebastian Aho leads the Hurricanes in scoring with 89 points including 36 goals and 53 assists while Seth Jarvis has 67 points split between 33 goals and 34 assists. Martin Necas has 53 points and Teuvo Teravainen has 53 points, with Necas logging 24 goals while Teravainen has 25 goals. In goal, Frederik Andersen has gone 13-2 with a 1.84 GAA and a .932 save percentage while Antti Raanta is 12-7-2 with a 2.99 GAA and an .872 save percentage and Pyotr Kochetkov is 23-13-4 with a 2.33 GAA and a .911 save percentage.
Why the Carolina Hurricanes will win
- The Hurricanes have won eight of their last nine games against opponents on a winning streak.
- The Rangers have lost four of their last five Game 1s of an Eastern Conference Second Round series.
- The road team has covered the puck line in five of the last six games between the Hurricanes and Rangers.
- The Rangers have lost the first period in each of their last four games at Madison Square Garden following a road win.
New York Rangers Team Preview
The New York Rangers will look to take a 2-0 series lead at home after their convincing win over the Capitals in game one last time out. Matt Rempe and Artemi Panarin scored 33 second apart and Jimmy Vesey added a 3rd 1:33 later to break the game open and the Rangers never looked back. Artemi Panarin leads the Rangers in scoring with 120 points including team-highs of 49 goals and 71 assists while Chris Kreider has 75 points with 39 goals of his own. Vincent Trocheck has 77 points as well with 52 assists while Mika Zibanejad has 72 points with 46 assists this season. Igor Shesterkin has gone 36-17-2 with a 2.58 GAA and a .913 save percentage while Jonathan Quick is 18-6-2 with a 2.62 GAA and a .911 save percentage between the pipes for the Rangers this season.
Why the New York Rangers will win
- The underdogs have won each of the last eight games between the Hurricanes and Rangers.
- The Hurricanes have lost 23 of their last 28 games at Madison Square Garden.
- The underdogs have covered the puck line in each of the last eight games between the Hurricanes and Rangers.
- The Hurricanes have failed to cover the puck line in six of their last seven day games following a home win.
- The underdogs have won the third period in seven of the last eight games between the Hurricanes and Rangers.
NY Rangers vs Carolina Hurricanes Prediction
I’m on the Rangers in game one. Should be an interesting series for sure, and these two teams have very similar builds throughout the lineup. Both also have extremely solid goaltending, so the under could be in play as well. However, the Rangers were one of the best home teams in the NHL this season and the Hurricanes were held to one goal or less in two of the three meetings this season. I think this is going to be a fun one, but I’m backing the Rangers to draw first blood here.