Cardiac Cane
Fansided

Carolina Hurricanes: Three Keys to Victory Against the New York Rangers

By Justin Hollingsworth

RALEIGH, NC - FEBRUARY 19: Teuvo Teravainen #86 of the Carolina Hurricanes battles Kevin Shattenkirk #22 of the New York Rangers during an NHL game on February 19, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Karl DeBlaker/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - FEBRUARY 19: Teuvo Teravainen #86 of the Carolina Hurricanes battles Kevin Shattenkirk #22 of the New York Rangers during an NHL game on February 19, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Karl DeBlaker/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next
RALEIGH, NC – FEBRUARY 19: Sebastian Aho #20 of the Carolina Hurricanes faces off against Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers during an NHL game on February 19, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Karl DeBlaker/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – FEBRUARY 19: Sebastian Aho #20 of the Carolina Hurricanes faces off against Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers during an NHL game on February 19, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Karl DeBlaker/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Intensity Against a Metro Division Team

If the Hurricanes are going to live up to their preseason predictions as one of the favorites to win the Metropolitan division, then they’re going to have to prove that they can play (and win) against those teams. So far this season, we have seen some mixed results overall. Carolina needs to treat every divisional game as highly important and up the intensity level, especially against the Rangers.

At the start of the season, Carolina looked unstoppable. Comeback wins were coming left and right and everything looked great. During that five game winning streak to start the season, the Hurricanes played two divisional rivals.

The first was against the Washington Capitals which featured a come-from-behind thriller, capped off by an overtime goal by Jake Gardiner. The second was against the Islanders, where Carolina played strong and won the game 5-2.

Canes call up Eetu Luosarinen to play against Rangers. light. Related Story

Since that hot streak, Carolina has played against the Columbus Blue Jackets (twice), the New Jersey Devils and most recently the Philadelphia Flyers. In those games, the Hurricanes went 0-3-1. Clearly, this is not good enough. Going into Thursday’s action against the Rangers, they really need to win this game.

Carolina is a really good team. Up and down the lineup, when this team is healthy, it’s hard to find any holes. Without Jordan Martinook (Currently out after having surgery), it’s hard to up that intensity level. This is where captain Jordan Staal and alternate captain Jaccob Slavin have to step up and get this team motivated.

The Hurricanes have to up the intensity against any divisional rival, but it starts Thursday against the Rangers. It’s time to turnaround what has been an abysmal stretch against Metropolitan teams and get back to that level of play that was present against the Capitals and the Islanders. Play hard at home and don’t let up.

Home/Editorials