- First-period fury is key for the Rangers in staking a 4-1 win with a 2-2 tie in the Eastern Conference semifinals with the Carolina Hurricanes.
- Rangers cover (-105) as they were finally the favorite in the series.
- Hurricanes drop two but remain odds on favorites (-152) to win the series.
Rangers Notch Early Advantage in Posting Series Tie
The Carolina Hurricanes have had a tough time going on the offensive in their Eastern Conference semifinals series with the New York Rangers and Tuesday night was no exception in New York’s 4-1 victory.
New York’s Frank Vatrano stashed a power-play goal at 13:31 in the first period as the Rangers took advantage of a tripping penalty on Carolina’s Seth Jarvis. Then, some 2:11 later, Adam Fox scored his fourth goal of the playoffs on the second assist from Andrew Copp. The Rangers then were able to maintain the lead and control throughout the contest in winning their second game in a row at Madison Square Garden.
Copp later put on the finishing touches with his goal at 11:10 in the third period to satisfy the 4-1 win.
New York’s Mike Zibanejad posted a goal at 16:48 in the second to give the Rangers their 3-0 margin.
After 2 at The Garden.#NoQuitInNY pic.twitter.com/Ee9m7CNo6i
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) May 25, 2022
Teuvo Teraveinen scored Carolina’s only marker of their night in the third period 6:33 as Sebastian Aho provided the assist.
On the board!! pic.twitter.com/ehtZiaUDb0
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) May 25, 2022
Overall though, Carolina is still the favorite at the online sportsbooks with odds to move on to the Eastern Conference Finals at (-152) while New York is currently at (+132) for an appearance in the sports’ Final Four.
New York Pushes Forward With Win When Favored on Wednesday
The Rangers were the underdog vs. the Hurricanes in the first three games, but Tuesday night, New York checked in with a (-115) nod and came through with that insurmountable closure in the first period.
Carolina won the Metropolitan Division by six points (116-110) over New York during the season. The Hurricanes were listed at (-175) in Game 1 and (-160) in Game 2 and even came into Game 3 at MSG with a (-115) nod in Vegas. The Hurricanes are currently listed at (-145) in Game 5 on Thursday evening while the Rangers are posted with (+125).
Carolina went into last night’s Game 4 as a (-103) favorite with the Rangers posted at (+125). The Hurricanes won three of the four games between the two squads this season and were listed at (-190) to win this series while the Rangers were at (+160).
The Rangers recorded their fifth straight home victory in their 4-1 win over the Hurricanes in Game 4 https://t.co/E3ewXzNFfI pic.twitter.com/WNNJEl9N4p
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 25, 2022
A huge key for Carolina now is to continue it’s winning throughout a potential playoff run is to start converting it’s power-play where the team is only 0-for-12 so far in the series with the Rangers. The Hurricanes have outscored their opponents at home by an average of 3.14ppg to 1.17ppg.
Canes in the Crease
The UNDER has been the play in all four games with Carolina goaltender Antti Raanta allowing only one Rangers goal in Games 1 and 2. New York goalie Igor Shesterkin allowed only two Hurricanes markers in the two matchups in NYC.
The Hurricanes have to get their offense going on special Teams as they are 0-for-9 on the power play in this series so far. The Hurricanes are a playoff mantra on home ice this season as they are 6-0 at their PNC Arena, but 0-5 either at the Rangers or in the first round when they were in Boston as they bested the Boston Bruins, with a 4-3 advantage.
Carolina needs to get more from it’s offense as Sebastian Aho, who was the leading scorer with 81 points (37 goals/44 assists) in the regular season only had one assist as of now.
Both of these teams sit at 6-5 in the playoffs with Game 5 of this series coming in Carolina on Thursday evening.
