As the NHL season trails down, the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes meet for the final time.
The Rangers are coming off a 9-2 (!) rout of the rival New York Islanders on Thursday night, but there wasn’t much to celebrate. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes fell 5-4 in a shootout to the division-leading Washington Capitals.
How to watch New York Rangers at Carolina Hurricanes
The second-place Hurricanes (in the Metropolitan Division) will face the third-place New Jersey Devils in the first round of the playoffs.
Earlier this week, The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman and Harman Dayal dove into the strengths and weaknesses of each team in a playoff spot. They pointed to how the strength of Carolina’s system has become the team’s identity, along with its shot suppression, led on the back end by Jaccob Slavin, and top-notch forecheck with nods to Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho. On the flip side, reasons to panic include insufficient finish and the team’s goaltending, particularly Pyotr Kochetkov’s struggles of late.
The Canes have an outstanding 30-1-8 record at home this season and an eight-point lead on the Devils, with home-ice advantage all but locked in. Aho leads the team with 71 points, while Jarvis leads with 31 goals.
Artemi Panarin leads the Rangers with 37 goals and 87 points (down from 120 points last season).
Arthur Staple wrote a nice piece about legendary broadcasting duo Sam Rosen and John Davidson reuniting for one last Rangers game before Rosen retires at the end of his 40th season as an announcer. This season, Rosen has been honored around the league with gifts and well-wishes, gestures Rosen has called “overwhelming, heartwarming, rewarding and, in a way, eye-opening.”
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(Photo of Jaccob Slavin: Claus Andersen / Getty Images)
