Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Rangers: Game 3 Preview

As was the case in the first round as well, the Carolina Hurricanes have handled their business with the home-ice advantage so far in this second-round series with the New York Rangers.

The Canes, up 2-0 after two close games at home, will now look to do something they haven’t done yet this year: win a game on the road in the postseason. To do it they’ll have to win in Madison Square Garden, a house of horrors over the years for the Canes but a place Carolina went 2-0 during this year’s regular season.

So far this series for the Canes it’s been the unsung heroes stepping up, with the unlikeliest of game-winning goal duos in Ian Cole and Brendan Smith providing the tallies. Sebastian Aho has scored the other two goals for the Canes in the series, while the Rangers have found the back of the net just once in 123:12 of play.

Antti Raanta, with a stellar defense in front of him, has continued to be a point of excellence for the Hurricanes, who will certainly hope for that to continue on the road in Sunday afternoon’s game three.

The Canes aren’t going to win the Stanley Cup, or even get to the finals, without a win on the road. Carolina will hope that starts Sunday in game three, looking to take a commanding 3-0 lead over the Rangers rather than let New York climb right back into the series like Boston did.

Game Notes

• Teuvo Teravainen is the Hurricane who carries a point streak into game three, as Teravainen has an assist in three straight games dating back to game seven against the Bruins.
• Sebastian Aho, who had an assist and a goal in game two, is now tied with Eric Staal for the most postseason assists in franchise history. Aho is also now tied with Ron Francis for the most playoff assists in franchise history. Good chance that Aho is alone atop both of those leaderboards here soon.
• But wait, we’re not done with Aho’s franchise records. He’s also just one goal away from tying Staal’s franchise record for postseason goals. There’s a very, very good chance that Aho will hold the franchise record in postseason points, goals and assists by the end of this series. Aho is 24.
• Not to be outshined by Aho, Jaccob Slavin is also just two assists away from passing Staal’s franchise mark in the postseason, though Slavin will probably see the gap between him and Aho grow as things move along.
• Brendan Smith’s game-winning goal in game two was just the second shorthanded goal by a defenseman in Carolina’s playoff history. The other came from Mike Commodore in the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals.
• With Ian Cole’s game one overtime winner followed by Smith’s game two shorty, Cole and Smith are the first defensemen in Carolina history to have game-winning goals in back-to-back playoff games.
• Aho, Teravainen and Jordan Staal have played in every single postseason game for the Hurricanes since 2019, and the trio is tied for 10th in franchise history for postseason games played. They’ll all jump up to a tie for ninth Sunday, joining Jordan’s brother Eric.