2-0 Carolina

Not only is Carolina up 2 games in the series, but they also landed a 2-0 win last night to make a nice matching pair. The game was actually pretty close. New York and Carolina are heavy defensive teams and the shots on goal show that (21-20 Carolina) but Carolina kept the Rangers from getting any high scoring chances.

Blocked shots, interceptions, and turnovers happened from start to finish. Carolina got their first goal on a Rangers defensive mistake and that kept all momentum on their side. The Rangers didn’t get to capitalize on the very few forced errors they managed to get on Carolina. Both teams didn’t get a power play goal.

Here are the big problems:

• Face-off wins are way too low. The majority of offensive face-offs were lost by the Rangers, allowing Carolina to quickly clear the puck. And when in the defensive zone, the Rangers were forced into defense. You can’t win a game if you’re on the wrong side of the rink for more than half the game.
• Carolina’s penalty kill is way better than Pittsburgh’s. That’s handicapping the Rangers’ potential for goals, to say the least.
• Carolina’s forecheck is aggressive and New York doesn’t know how to handle it.
• The team’s all stars are not producing. Forget goals and assists, Kreider and Panarin didn’t have a shot on goal last night! Zibanejad had two. Strome can’t hit the damn net to save his life. Trouba isn’t a goal scorer. The guys that are getting paid the most aren’t doing anything in this series. Panarin has been so slow and bad (turnovers especially) that I’m convinced he’s hurt.

I also get the sense that the Rangers are afraid of being aggressive on offense out of fear of being punished by breakaways. But that’s how Carolina plays and it’s working for them. They cannot play so passive tomorrow or it’s going to be another loss. The open net chances HAVE to turn into actual goals. Strome needs to be able to shoot through the legs of someone standing 3 feet away from him instead of hitting them in the back! Absolutely infuriating.