Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Rangers: Game 5 Preview

Home. Sweet. Home.

The Carolina Hurricanes are back in the only place they’ve been able to win a playoff hockey game this year Thursday night, as they play host to the New York Rangers in a pivotal game five.

After winning games one and two at home, as they did in the first round too, the Carolina Hurricanes went on the road to Madison Square Garden and lost two in a row there to let the Rangers even things up, as they did the Bruins in round one too.

The good news now is that the series shifts back to Raleigh, where the Canes haven’t lost a single game in these playoffs.

Bring on another massive game five.

Game Notes

• With an assist in game four, Sebastian Aho passed Eric Staal for the most playoff points in franchise history and Ron Francis for the most playoff assists in NHL history.
• There’s another record within reach for Aho, who is two away from passing Eric Staal for the most playoff goals in franchise history.
• And after falling below Aho in the assists records Tuesday, Eric Staal is set to drop to third sometime soon with Jaccob Slavin just two assists away from passing him.
• Teuvo Teravainen now leads the Hurricanes with 10 points in this postseason. Tony DeAngelo had eight points in the first round but has yet to register a point in the second round.
• Antti Raanta loves PNC Arena. So far this postseason, he’s 5-0 with 0.97 GAA and .968 save percentage at home in Raleigh.
• The Carolina Hurricanes are 6-5 all time in game fives. They are 5-2 on home ice. The franchise has never lost a playoff series (8-0) when it went up 3-2, but it is just 2-8 in series where it was down 3-2.