Carolina leads the series 3-2

Carolina 3-1

This was basically a rerun of Game 1, which is not what we are looking for. A decent first period where the Hurricanes scored first but the Rangers quickly answered back to level the playing field. The first goal showed a problem though: a short-handed goal. This is the second one of the series the Rangers have given up. The Rangers did this to the Penguins so this is clearly another terrible break for the Rangers. For as good Jacob Trouba can be, he sure can make some stupid decisions that turn into goals against. He just turns it over and that created a breakaway that gave Carolina too many advantages.

A big problem of this game was turnovers by the Rangers, 2 of which turned into goals. There were an alarming amount of breakaways for Carolina. Plus, the Rangers looked slow. Too many times Carolina won races to the puck. I can’t even begin to count the number of times the Rangers were just out of range of receiving a pass or a rebound and it was just too far away to reach. That led to a lot of puck chasing which added to being on defense for too long.

The big dagger was Strome’s goal in the second period being taken away for being offsides. It was a huge moment because this broke the tie in the Rangers’ favor. The Hurricanes took proper control of the game in the second and when the Rangers managed to fight back on offense, with Strome really battling, they were rewarded with a hard-earned goal. That goal being removed really took the air out of the Rangers’ tires and they ran catchup for the rest of the game.

It also felt like Carolina had more of a plan in this game and executed it. They stifled many players on defense (I think Kreider had 2 shots on goal). They’ve also figured out what they need to do to get by Igor: get him to move as much as possible to open him up. All three goals were high quality, difficult to stop goals.

So now the Rangers’ backs are back up against the wall again. Home ice advantage seems to be everything in this series so it’s up to the Rangers to continue that trend and then figure out how to end Carolina in the final game. It’s going to be difficult and every player needs to contribute smart plays to get it done.