Sports
Rangers Aim For Sweep Of Hurricanes In 2nd Round Of NHL Playoffs
Raleigh, North Carolina – The New York Rangers have carried the form that earned them the NHL’s best regular-season record into the tournament. And that puts them within one win of being the first team to reach the conference finals.
The Rangers face the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 on Saturday night, with the President’s Trophy winner on the verge of sweeping past the third-place team in the NHL rankings. They’re also the first club in 16 years to open a postseason 7-0, thanks to a 3-2 overtime triumph at Carolina on Thursday.
“You don’t really think about it,” Rangers forward Jack Roslovic explained. “You’re simply rolling; you’re playing great hockey. Everyone is clicking at the appropriate time, the goalies are performing admirably, the systems appear to be functioning properly, and the matches appear to be effective. So you keep trying to do the same things.”
AP – VOR News Image
Rangers Aim For Sweep Of Hurricanes In 2nd Round Of NHL Playoffs
New York opened the playoffs by sweeping Washington in Round One. According to Sportradar, another sweep would make them the first club to open the playoffs with eight straight wins since the Edmonton Oilers won nine straight in 1985 on their way to winning the Stanley Cup.
Pittsburgh last went 7-0 in 2008 before losing to Detroit in the Cup final. New York also achieved it in 1994, on their way to their most recent Cup victory. Now they’ll try to finish off the Hurricanes on their home ice in front of a noisy crowd.
“We know what we’re getting into; we have to be prepared, and we have to play our game within that framework,” New York coach Peter Laviolette said.
Carolina is facing a harsh and familiar reality, especially after acquiring forward Jake Guentzel at the trade deadline, indicating that the organization saw this season as its best chance to go all-in as a multi-year Cup contender under Rod Brind’Amour.
Carolina’s last eight postseason losses have all been by one goal, with five coming in overtime, dating back to last year’s sweep by Florida in the Eastern Conference Final.
Brind’Amour has expressed satisfaction with the team’s 5-on-5 performance. But the Rangers are winning the series on special teams, and Carolina’s power play, which ranked second in the regular season, has failed at the worst possible time. Carolina has gone 0 for 5 with the man advantage in all three games, and New York’s game-changing shorthanded goal from Chris Kreider in Game 3 added to their frustrations.
AP – VOR News Image
Rangers Aim For Sweep Of Hurricanes In 2nd Round Of NHL Playoffs
With Carolina allowing four power-play goals in Games 1 and 2, the Rangers have outscored the Hurricanes 5-0 on special teams in a series determined by a combined margin of three goals.
“Everyone knows what’s going on and what situation we’re in,” forward Seth Jarvis said. Like I said before, being negative and down is not going to help anyone.”
Valeri Nichushkin has continued to score goals for the Avalanche this postseason, even when his stick is not on the ball. He can shatter a 32-year-old NHL record when their second-round Western Conference series moves to Colorado for Game 3.
Nichushkin has scored in all seven games this season, the most recent on a puck that ricocheted off his right thigh in Game 2 at Dallas, tying Pat LaFontaine’s record for the longest goal streak to begin a postseason (for Buffalo in 1992). This also tied the Avs franchise record for longest postseason streak with Claude Lemieux and Joe Sakic.
AP – VOR News Image
Rangers Aim For Sweep Of Hurricanes In 2nd Round Of NHL Playoffs
Top-line center Roope Hintz had only one point in the Stars’ first eight playoff games, an empty-net goal. But he got a goal and three assists in their 5-3 victory Thursday night, tying the series at one game apiece.
Tyler Seguin, a six-time All-Star forward, scored his first goal in the playoffs on a short-handed shot that proved to be the game-winner in Game 2. Esa Lindell scored his first on a late empty-netter with an assist from Hintz, who also assisted on both defenseman Miro Heiskanen’s two power-play goals.
“They want to win. “They want to make a difference, and they’re used to doing so,” said coach Pete DeBoer. “So it’s critical that those guys started to score, and we got scoring from the right guys.”
SOURCE – (AP)
