If the Hurricanes want to beat the Rangers in Game 7, here’s what they need to do
The Carolina Hurricanes had no sooner lost 5-2 to the New York Rangers on Saturday than defenseman Brady Skjei talked of looking ahead.
“We’re going to try to scrap this game and move on,” he said.
Sounds simple enough: lose Game 6 in the Stanley Cup playoff series and just move on to Game 7 on Monday, Go home, play again, look to play well and end the second-round series.
“It’s little frustrating we couldn’t close it out but we’ll forget about this pretty quickly and we have a lot of confidence at home, as our record shows,” Skjei said. “We’ll be ready to go Monday.”
The record shows that the Hurricanes are 7-0 at home in the playoffs. But Game 7’s can be fickle, with unexpected turns, unexpected stars, regardless of where it’s played.
Here are four things that could help the Canes get that series-clinching fourth win against the Rangers:
Raanta rebound
Goalie Antti Raanta has been so solid for the Canes that it was almost shocking to see him pulled from Game 6. But there he sat, cap on head and a somber look on his face, after Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour decided to make a change early in the second period after the Rangers’ third goal.
Someone asked Brind’Amour in the postgame press conference if Raanta would start Game 7. Brind’Amour gave the media person an incredulous look before saying, yes, Antti Raanta would start.
What wasn’t said but could have been: Raanta is 6-0 at home in the playoffs, with a .965 save percentage and 0.97 goals-against average.
In the Boston series, Raanta was the losing goalie in Game 6, beaten for four goals as the Bruins took a 5-2 win in Boston. He responded with could have been the biggest victory of his career, stopping 27 of 29 shots in Game 7.
“He’s been a rock for us,” Skjei said.
Keeping it “clean”
After the Canes won Game 1, defenseman Brett Pesce said the players were talking about what a clean game it had been. That is, generally devoid of penalties.
Nino Niederreiter high-sticked the Rangers’ Adam Fox at 1:26 of the first period and that was that – no more Canes penalties in the game. And the Rangers had only one: Ryan Strome’s tripping penalty just 27 seconds after the Niederreiter call. The referees kept the whistles in their pockets and let the guys play..
The Canes had five penalties in the third period of Game 6. The Rangers scored twice on the power play in the game.
Don’t chase the game
In Game 7 against the Bruins, the Canes’ Teuvo Teravainen scored the first goal of the game in the opening period, and Domi scored twice in the second for a 3-1 lead.
The Canes did not have to play from behind, with the pressure mounting as the minutes passed. PNC Arena was a rocking place, Canes fans urging their team on rather than having the urgent pleas that come when the home team is trailing and the fans antsy.
“Our fans are really loud and are great and they get us going for the game,” center Vincent Trocheck said Sunday. “That obviously helps whenever momentum swings happen.”
The Canes did come from behind in Game 1 against the Rangers, Sebastian Aho tying the score late in regulation before Cole won it in overtime. But that was Game 1, not a Game 7.
Another Max Domi
Domi was the unexpected step-up star in Game 7 against the Bruins, scoring twice, assisting on a third goal. Traded to the Canes at the deadline to bring more spunk and skill to the lineup, the forward was at his best in what then was Carolina’s biggest game of the season.
Now there’s a bigger one. It could be the kind of game that a Jordan Martinook, back from injury, provides a big score for the Canes. Defensemen Ian Cole and Brendan Smith had the game-winning goals in the first two games of the Rangers series. No one expected that from those veteran guys,
Who knows, it might be Domi again.
