RANGERS LOOK
It’s a tale of two cities for Canes
By now, it has become painfully clear that the Rangers are facing two different teams in the Eastern Conference semifinals. They are playing against the risk-taking, end-to-end, error-prone Hurricanes at the Garden, but the tight-checking, energetic, purposeful Hurricanes in Raleigh.
It turns out it is a lot easier to skate with the Eighth Avenue Hurricanes than the Edwards Mill Road Hurricanes, as demonstrated again Thursday night when the Rangers dropped Game
5, 3-1. The Hurricanes, now leading the semifinal conference series, 3-2, once again morphed into the best defensive team in the league, and they were not much fun to play against.
The transformation was quite extraordinary to watch. Carolina skated faster, harder. The Hurricanes’ moribund power play came to life. They still took a couple of dumb penalties, which actually led to the Rangers’ only goal by Mika Zibanejad in the first period. But Carolina settled into a healthier, smarter rhythm soon enough.
Right from the start, these were the home-ice Hurricanes, forechecking and dominating puck possession, limiting the Rangers to just 17 shots in the game. Carolina nearly doubled the Rangers’ time in the offensive zone. It was a decidedly one-sided game, competitive on the scoreboard only because of the usual heroics by Igor Shesterkin. 10:44
“We weren’t quick enough, we weren’t strong enough, we weren’t competitive enough,” Gerard Gallant told reporters, after the setback. “It was a total team that looked tired.”
The Hurricanes managed to beat the Rangers’ unbeatable goalie three times—including a short-handed goal and their first power-play goal of the series. In both cases, those goals were the result of pretty, cross-ice passes that led to quick, redirected wrist shots—by Vincent Trocheck and Teuvo Teravainen. These were the kind of tic-tac-toe plays that even a superhero like Shesterkin could not sabotage.
Carolina sealed the deal on a clean breakaway goal by Andrei Svechnikov at 13:01 of the third period, a backhander through the legs of Shesterkin. That goal led to a sarcastic, “Igor,” chant throughout the arena, and a good time was had by nearly all in attendance.
The consistently inconsistent Hurricanes are now 7-0 at home in the postseason; 0-5 in Boston and New York; the starkest home-away differential in Stanley Cup history. They are plus-17 in Raleigh; minus-13 on the road.
What is it about home ice that could possibly cause such a dramatic advantage in the series? This sort of divergence is extreme, even by NHL playoff standards. While both the Garden and the PNC Arena are lively, frenetic places, neither one is often listed among the five most-intimidating venues in the NHL. The Canadian arenas are louder and more fearsome.
Matchups have certainly been a factor. When Rod Brind’Amour has been able to dictate the last line change at home, he has largely neutralized the Rangers’ top scorers with Carolina’s most rigorous checkers. Jordan Staal has shadowed Mika Zibanejad relentlessly. Chris Kreider did not have a shot on goal.
“They did a pretty good job of pinning us in the D zone,” Kreider said. “Little details had us pinned for the whole shift. Anytime they had their forecheck going, it was a big part of it was our inability to get into the neutral zone. They do a good job of taking away time and space.”
The traditional NHL rule, which allows the home coach to send out his players after the visitors have committed to their own lineup, is an enormous edge. For the sake of comparison: Imagine that a visiting baseball team is not allowed to employ any defensive shifts, while the home manager has permission to do so.
Or, that a football coach at home can wait to see his opponents’ offensive formation, before sending out his defensive personnel.
There are other, more conventional factors. Players are traditionally more comfortable at home, sleeping in their own beds and skating on their own ice. They are accustomed to the puck’s rebound angles and speed off the arena’s boards. They become more aggressive at the urging of the crowd, leading to vigorous checking at both ends.
“Everyone played well,” Brind’Amour said. “This was the game we were waiting for. That obviously was a lot better tonight. I don’t know how to explain it.”
Carolina earned this critical