Fist bumps, not handshakes, cap Hurricanes’ sweep. Now comes a different test off ice
Call it a sign of the times. Unprecedented times.
The Carolina Hurricanes finished up a sweep of the New York Rangers on Tuesday in their best-of-five postseason series with a 4-1 victory. There were no cheering fans, only a silent building. There were no postgame handshakes between teams, a time-honored hockey tradition.
Fist bumps, that’s all. That’s 2020. It’s all about beating the coronavirus and doing what’s necessary, what’s safe. Be smart, do things differently. Bump gloves.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour, asked Tuesday night about those fist bumps, about the surreal nature of it, of all of it, was introspective.
“It is surreal,” he said. “You win and there’s a little bit of a lack of emotion because the crowd’s not there. That’s what you’re used to when you win like that. But it’s a different time, obviously.
“But what hasn’t been said here, we’re extremely grateful to be playing. I think we owe it to a lot of people here that are going above and beyond just to make this happen. It’s obviously a crazy time, but we’re just really grateful to be able to do this, try to bring some happiness and joy to our fans. They deserve some smiles, so hopefully we’re bringing that.”
The Canes left PNC Arena on July 26 to the sounds of honking horns and shouts of “Let’s go Canes!” as their fans circled the arena in a long procession of cars — a sendoff the players and coaches found inspirational. They landed in Toronto to enter the NHL’s protective “bubble,” determined to stay and play as long as possible.
Coaches always talk about setting the tone — in a game, in a series. The Canes did that immediately against the Rangers in Game 1 at Scotiabank Arena.
Defenseman Brady Skjei, the former Ranger, slammed into New York forward Jesper Fast along the boards, knocking Fast out of the game and the series. Soon after, Justin Williams suddenly dropped the gloves to slug it out with the Rangers’ Ryan Strome, who was left bloodied.
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“We let one minute at the beginning of Game 1 affect two games,” Rangers forward Chris Kreider said Tuesday. “I did personally. We thought the playoffs were a blood sport and we were out there running around for a hit instead of playing the puck-possession style we play.”
It was the style the Canes played. After a Kreider goal had given the Rangers a 1-0 lead in Game 3, the Canes kept the puck in the New York zone for more than two minutes. Defensemen Jake Gardiner and Haydn Fleury made some nice plays to keep the Rangers from clearing the puck, and the Canes kept applying pressure.
Teuvo Teravainen scored for a 1-1 tie off an Andrei Svechnikov pass, gathering in the puck and backhanding a shot past goalie Igor Shesterkin. The Canes were on their way, getting stronger as the game wore on.
Warren Foegele scored on a redirection in the third and Sebastian Aho did Sebastian Aho things — scoring on a great individual move, then sealing the game with some hustle and an empty netter. Goalie James Reimer refused to allow another goal in his first postseason start since 2013, when he was with the Maple Leafs.
“They’re structured,” Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad said. “They were patient the whole series. They were really patient.”
If patient on the ice, the Canes now must be patient off it. A quick sweep of the qualifier means they must wait for the other qualifying rounds to be completed while the top four Eastern Conference teams — Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington — finish off their round-robin games to set the seedings for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
As Brind’Amour said Tuesday, “This is going to be tricky.”
In most cases, the players would spend time with their families, relax, grill out, maybe play some golf while getting in well-paced practices at PNC Arena to prepare for the next playoff round. This year, it’s more hotel living at the Royal York in Toronto and finding ways to be entertained.
“We’re going to have to get creative and find things to keep the guys together and mentally sharp,” Brind’Amour said. “Down time is what kills you in this kind of setting.”
The Canes could have injured defenseman Dougie Hamilton back for the next round. When healthy and cleared to play, Hamilton would draw back into the lineup, Brind’Amour said, meaning someone on the back end who contributed to the Rangers sweep will have to sit.
Who? “We’ll figure it out as we move along,” Brind’Amour said.
The Canes have time, plenty of it.
