The second round of the 2024 NHL Playoffs started on Sunday afternoon (May 5) between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers. The Metro Division’s two top teams squared off to see who would move onto the Eastern Conference Final. Coming into the series on paper, there were no differences between the two teams. Top three on special teams for both squads, both could score at a high rate along with talent up and down the roster. One of the main storylines was going to be the special teams. Whoever controlled them in this series might have a slight edge to win it all. In Game 1, it was the special teams that grabbed the top storyline and what resulted was the Rangers winning 4-3 to kick off Round 2.
First Period Killers
The first period was a wild one as there were four goals in the period. The Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad made his presence felt by tallying three points (a goal and two assists) as he opened the scoring under three minutes into the game. However, it did not take long for the Hurricanes to tie it up thanks to Lady Byng Finalist Jaccob Slavin just a minute after the Zibanejad marker. It was Slavin’s first goal of the playoffs as it went off a Rangers stick and past netminder Igor Shesterkin.
Related: Hurricanes’ Jaccob Slavin a Lady Byng Trophy Finalist for the Third Time
After the Slavin goal, the special teams for the Hurricanes seemed to implode. The special teams were what Carolina had on lock coming into the playoffs with the NHL’s second-best powerplay (26.9%) and the league-leading penalty kill (86.4%). However, it was early special team woes, mainly the penalty kill, that put Carolina in a hole in the first period. Zibanejad regained the Rangers’ lead just a tad over halfway into the period and then Vincent Trocheck made it a three-goal game six minutes later. What did not help the Hurricanes is that both first-period powerplay goals were scored within 15 seconds of each opportunity. Giving up two goals that quickly on the penalty kill sank the Hurricanes’ special teams for the game overall.
After the game, head coach Rod Brind’amour was asked about the powerplay goals from the Rangers stating, “A couple of kills we didn’t quite execute right and they did. They made their three quick passes, hit it, and we were just a step off. That’s the difference.” It did make the difference as the Rangers went 2-for-2 in the game. The Hurricanes’ penalty kill going zero percent in Game 1 was not ideal. Even more so, when…
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