Rangers vs Hurricanes: 3 Storylines to Watch in Round 2

The Hurricanes want to get revenge from two seasons ago and make it to their second straight Eastern Conference Final, while the Rangers want to beat the Hurricanes again and prove why they were the best team in the NHL this season while also making it to their second Eastern Conference Final in three seasons. With so much to play for and some history between these teams, here are three storylines to watch for as this series begins and progresses.

Vincent Trocheck Against His Former Team

The last time these two teams met in the playoffs, Vincent Trocheck was playing for the Hurricanes as their second-line center. He scored three goals in that series and left Carolina that offseason as a free agent. He would then go on to sign a seven-year deal with the Rangers and has now been their second-line center for the past two seasons. He had a career year this season, with 25 goals and 77 points in 82 games played. He has continued that great play in the playoffs with three goals and six points in the four-game sweep over the Washington Capitals in the first round.

With Trocheck’s departure, the Hurricanes haven’t been able to find a center to replace him and it has been a rotation of players, but nobody has been able to stick. Trocheck has been excellent for the Rangers since coming over and his strong play in the first round could lead to even better play in the second round, as they are going up against a match tougher opponent. It will be interesting to see how well he plays against his former team and maybe he will have something to prove and show the Hurricanes that they made a mistake letting him go to their division rival.

Special Teams Play

The special teams for both teams during the regular season were excellent. The Rangers finished third in the league on both the power play and penalty kill, while the Hurricanes finished second on the power play and first on the penalty kill. So far in these playoffs, the Rangers’ special teams have continued to be very good, while the Hurricanes have struggled a bit to start. The Rangers are ranked fourth on the power play and fourth on the penalty kill, while Carolina is ranked seventh on the power play and ninth on the penalty kill. For Carolina, they are going to want to see some major improvements in their special teams because if they don’t and they take too many penalties, the Rangers are going to make them pay and it could very well cost them this series.

On the other hand, the Rangers want to keep doing what has been working for them on their special teams. For the power-play, they have so many options to choose from, whether it’s Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Trocheck, or Adam Fox. All of these players are capable of scoring on the power play in different ways, so if the Hurricanes don’t improve their penalty kill, it could haunt them all series long. As for the Rangers’ penalty kill, they need to stay disciplined because even though the Hurricanes struggled a bit during the first round, they also have the talent to turn it around very quickly. Both teams need to stay disciplined cause these special teams could be the biggest factor in this series.

Igor Shesterkin vs Frederik Anderson

The goaltending for both teams could be the key factor in this series. For the Rangers, they have Igor Shesterkin, who had a terrific first round performance with a 1.75 goals against average (GAA) and a .931 save percentage (SV%). For the Hurricanes, Frederik Anderson had a good showing in the first round, with a 2.25 GAA and a .912 SV%. During the first round, it was unknown whether Anderson would play every game or split time with his backup, Pyotr Kochetkov, which is what they were doing down the stretch when Anderson returned during the regular season. It remains to be seen whether or not the Hurricanes stick with their number one, or do they give him a break every other game this series to try and keep him fresh.

The Rangers don’t need to worry about Shesterkin, as they know he can play every game with no issue. For Carolina, Anderson is a question mark. He played very well down the stretch in the regular season and has played well enough in these playoffs, but he has an injury history and he has had consistency issues in the past. If he struggles to start this series, they will have to turn to Kochetkov, who has less experience in the playoffs, and he will be going against Shesterkin, who has proven that he can step up his game when the games are more important. Goaltending is going to be a big factor in this series, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

On paper, this series looks like it should go the full seven games. Both teams have great star power up front and on the backend, they have the depth that can provide offense when they need to, the special teams have been good for both teams, and they have the goalies that can steal them games. This is going to be a very exciting series to watch, and it will be interesting to see if any of these storylines play a role in who wins and who loses this series.