Carolina Hurricanes at New York Rangers: Game 6 Lineups and Game Discussion

With every other second-round series now wrapped up, the eyes of the hockey world are now collectively focused on the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers.

The Canes head north to Madison Square Garden Saturday night, looking to break out of a road slump to start the playoffs and end this second-round series in six games rather than having to come back home for game seven.

As for the Rangers, New York is hoping that the home-ice advantage that has dominated both Carolina series so far remains in place for one more game.

Rod Brind’Amour is sticking with his guns Saturday night, as no lineup changes are expected for the Hurricanes. That means Jordan Martinook will stay in the lineup over Steven Lorentz and Derek Stepan, while Ethan Bear will be the extra defenseman.

Frederik Andersen has been skating and practicing more and more, though it’s still Antti Raanta’s net. While Andersen did practice in rotation with Pyotr Kochetkov Saturday morning, there’s no word on whether he’s available to backup Raanta for game six.

For New York, there hasn’t been much morning skate reporting going on, so we’ll assume (for now) no changes from game five.

Here’s how the teams will hit the ice:

Carolina Hurricanes

Teuvo Teravainen - Sebastian Aho - Seth Jarvis
Andrei Svechnikov - Vincent Trocheck - Martin Necas
Nino Niederreiter - Jordan Staal - Jesper Fast
Jordan Martinook - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Max Domi

Jaccob Slavin - Tony DeAngelo
Brady Skjei - Brett Pesce
Brendan Smith - Ian Cole

Antti Raanta
Pyotr Kochetkov

Injuries and Scratches: Ethan Bear (healthy), Steven Lorentz (healthy), Derek Stepan (healthy), Frederik Andersen (lower body)

New York Rangers

Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Frank Vatrano
Artemi Panarin - Ryan Strome - Andrew Copp
Alexis Lafreniere - Filip Chytil - Tyler Motte
Kaapo Kakko - Kevin Rooney - Ryan Reaves

Ryan Lindgren - Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller - Jacob Trouba
Justin Braun - Braden Schneider

Igor Shesterkin
Alexandar Georgiev

Injuries and Scratches: Barclay Goodrow (lower body), Patrik Nemeth, Greg McKegg, Julien Gauthier, Libor Hajek, Dryden Hunt, Jonny Brodzinksi (all healthy)