Cardiac Cane
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Carolina Hurricanes Look to Finish off The New York Rangers

By Omar Abdelgawad

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 03: Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers slides on the ice looking to gain control of the puck from Andrei Svechnikov #37 of the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 3, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 03: Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers slides on the ice looking to gain control of the puck from Andrei Svechnikov #37 of the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 3, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /
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Brady Skjei #76 of the Carolina Hurricanes (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images)
Brady Skjei #76 of the Carolina Hurricanes (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /

Staying out of the Box

The Carolina Hurricanes need to stop tempting fate with penalties.

The Carolina Hurricanes penalty kill is no joke. In 11 man-advantage opportunities given to the Rangers, they only allowed a single goal on a five on three. You really can’t ask for more than that. But here I am asking for just one simple thing; stop giving them penalties.

It goes back to the first two keys of the game that I mentioned earlier. If you are down a man you are going to struggle to generate any sort of offense and will more than likely spend the around two minutes playing keep away from the defensive zone.

The other team will get an opportunity to try and find their mojo, and given enough time, or worse, enough advantages, they will eventually find that mojo and the back of the net. That takes away the goaltender’s focus and puts the whole team on its heels.

Discipline goes a long way. The Rangers will come into tonight’s game with a chip on their shoulder and only the whole series to lose. They will play rough and they will want to try to escalate things to try and draw penalties. With enough patience and discipline, it will be the Carolina Hurricanes who will end up playing with the man advantage.

I am not saying that the team should avoid getting physical. Not at all, get physical and get mean, but do it within the limits of the rulebook. Do not give in to frustration no matter how much they want to get under your skin. If the Carolina Hurricanes can do that, the frustration will end up being on the Rangers end, which will lead to mistakes and scoring opportunities for the Hurricanes.

At the end of the day, they need this game much more than we do. If the Carolina Hurricanes can play the game cleanly, they will be the ones celebrating at tonight’s end.

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