The Rangers have experienced two entirely different series this postseason.
From overcoming the explosive offense of a speedy Penguins team in a high-scoring first-round matchup to the defense-focused and low-scoring checking contest they’re in now with the Hurricanes in this second-round series, the Rangers have been able to adapt to their opponents for the most part.
One of the major similarities between the Penguins and the Hurricanes, however, is that they’re both high-volume shooting clubs. The two teams finished among the top 10 in the NHL in shots per game during the regular season, with the Penguins sixth (34.7) and the Hurricanes ninth (34.1).
The Rangers have had to play each team differently in order to combat their strengths, and they’ve done it rather well so far.
“Every series is different,” defenseman Justin Braun said after the Rangers’ optional practice on Monday ahead of Game 4 Tuesday night at the Garden. “You kind of come into this one and you knew it was going to be tight checking. They play a very north-south game where we got to get pucks in and it’s not as freewheeling as it was in that Pittsburgh series. So you got to kind of adjust to each game, each series.
“But I think we’ve done a good job for the most part, playing good defense.”
There hasn’t been much open ice for either the Rangers or the Hurricanes through the first three games. The Rangers were able to limit Carolina to just a single goal in regulation, not including Sebastian Aho’s empty-netter in Game 2, in each contest. For context, the Hurricanes hung 14 goals on the Rangers in four regular-season meetings, which includes the Blueshirts’ lone win behind backup goalie Alexandar Georgiev’s outstanding shutout in late March.
Carolina stole one in overtime in Game 1 after getting outplayed for a majority of the game and then blanked the Rangers in Game 2, but the Rangers broke through on the power play and got an insurance tally from Chris Kreider to take Game 3.
So have the Rangers found a balance between sound defensive hockey and opening things up for themselves offensively?
“I wish I could say that,” Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant said. “I just can’t turn the offense on when I want. I never tell the guys, ‘Let’s not play offense tonight, let’s just get the puck out of our zone.’ That’s never part of what our team [is told] to do. Now the Carolina games, they were very similar to us. There wasn’t a whole lot of scoring chances and I mentioned that after the games. It’s the first- and second-best two teams in the league in goals-against average. It was tight hockey, you’re feeling each other out. And there wasn’t much either way.
“So it wasn’t just like us playing defensive hockey. They were doing the same thing. It wasn’t a big difference in the scoring chances in both of those games.”
If the Rangers can continue to stifle the Hurricanes’ team game and get their power play going, that could prove to be the difference in this series. But if the top six and the rest of their offense goes cold like it did in Game 2 or their defensive structure falls apart like it did at the end of Game 1, the Rangers won’t be able to contain Carolina.
“As a defenseman, I think Games 1 and 2, I didn’t think we gave up much,” Justin Braun said. “Creating stuff is not really my forte. But if you’re going out there and hold them to just a few shots when you’re out there, keeping them to the perimeter, that’s what I want to do night in and night out.”