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Edgar Chaput
Hurricanes vs. Rangers Game 1 Prediction, Stanley Cup Playoffs Odds
Both the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers will have rested for a week or nearly as long when Game 1 of the second-round series debuts on Sunday in Manhattan. The Rangers completed their sweep of the Capitals on the previous Sunday, whereas the Hurricanes put the Islanders to the swords on Tuesday in Game 5. Can Carolina make it a New York sweep by eliminating the Rangers next?
For Game 1 the NHL playoff odds see this as a supremely close matchup. The Rangers are -105 on the moneyline and the Canes are -115.
Hurricanes vs. Rangers NHL Betting Odds
All season long Carolina and New York were virtually in lockstep to win the Metropolitan division. Ultimately it went to the Rangers who amassed 114 points, with the Hurricanes tallying 111. The clubs only clashed thrice in the regular season, with New York taking two of three. Last year the Rangers took three of four games.
Of note, the last six times they’ve crossed paths, the loser has failed to score more than two goals and less than two five times.
The biggest piece of history between these gifted teams is the 2022 second round bout that went New York’s way. The Canes led that series 2-0 and 3-2, only for the Rangers to storm back and win in seven games, pardon the pun.
As for injuries, Carolina will be without the services of Jesper Fast (upper body) who the team fears might be lost for the remainder of the season. Brett Pesce is also listed as out. The Rangers’ Filip Chytil also continues to miss some game time.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Islanders-Hurricanes series didn’t have many eyeballs glued to it. Few believed the Islanders would give the Hurricanes much of a scare and that was mostly proven true. Caroline didn’t play perfect hockey – they lost one game and had to fight a 3-0 deficit in another – but they did what they had to do.
Offensively Rod Brind’Amour’s side is netting a solid 3.80 goals per game through five contests and that production is widely distributed. Case in point, Seth Jarvis has the most points with seven (three goals and four helpers) and he’s only 12th overall this postseason. Martin Necas, Brady Skjei, and Andrei Svechnikov all have five points each. Fans await for Sebastian Aho to get hot – three points off two goals and one assist.
That the team gave up three goals to the Islanders three times in five games could be cause for concern. The Rangers bring a much more potent attack. On the plus side, Frederik Andersen is back to his old self, sporting a 2.25 goals against average and .912 save percentage.
New York Rangers
In the other corner are the Presidents’ Trophy winning Rangers, who started their playoff run two Sundays ago and were done with the first round literally a week later.
Similarly to the Isles-Canes matchup, anything less than victory for the Rangers would have been a massive shock. This will be a sterner test, however. New York’s power play is operating at 37.5 per cent, which is terrific. That said, their productivity when up a player represents 40 per cent of their entire offence thus far (six PP goals out of 15 in total). What’s more, they netted two shorthand markers as well, meaning less than half of their goals came when playing five-on-five.
As for points leaders, Mika Zibanejad has seven (one goal, six assists), followed by Vincent Trochek with six (a trio of markers and apples). Artemi Panarin was a bit quiet in the first round (three points off two goals and a helper) but one suspects it’s only a matter of time before that changes. Broadway bad boy Matt Rempe should come in handy in this series.
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