The Rangers return to Madison Square Garden on Saturday for Game 6 of their second-round series against the Hurricanes. It’s getting harder to see how it won’t be the final home game of the season.
Carolina regained the series lead and maintained home ice advantage, pushing the Rangers one loss from elimination with a dominant performance in last night’s 3-1 win in Game 5 in Raleigh. Though the Hurricanes return to New York with an 0-5 record on the road in the postseason, they are now 7-0 at home, having held the Rangers to a total of two goals in three games at PNC Arena in this series.
After rallying from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Penguins in the first round, the Rangers need another improbable comeback to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals against the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
That’s because the Rangers followed their best game of the series with their worst, getting outshot 34-17 Thursday night, as both Chris Kreider and Artemi Panarin failed to record a shot on goal.
