Carolina Hurricanes: Keys to a Successful Game One vs Rangers

Lean on the Special Teams

The Carolina Hurricanes have to rely on their Special Teams

Both the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers have amazing powerplays that finished the season 8th and 7th overall in the league respectively. Both have amazing offensive talent that is supplemented by good defense blueline support. So what sets these two teams apart when the ref blows his whistle with a hand raised high above his head?

The Kill. The Carolina Hurricanes boast the fourth-best kill in the league. That should more than handle that Ranger powerplay. They have to avoid the mistakes they presented during the exhibition game and simply continue to clear the puck cleanly out of the zone. They will also have to continue pushing offensively on the kill when the opportunity presents itself. Or is created.

The New York Rangers, on the other hand, have a glaring weakness while down a man. They are ranked 27th in the NHL, a bad place to be against a team like Carolina that is also incredible at winning the faceoff and controlling the zone.

Now hopefully this will be a clean game with no whistles. But who are we kidding? Its the playoffs and there is no room for losing games, especially in a best-of-five series. Tensions will be sky high and chances are both teams will get the opportunity to place their powerplay on the ice to try to get a goal or two.

The trick is to be the team that scores as well as the team that shuts out the other team from scoring. Guys like Jake Gardiner, Andrei Svechnikov, and Morgan Geekie will be relied on heavily on the offensive side of things while Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen will be needed to kill any penalties that the Carolina Hurricanes may happen to incur.