Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports The second-round Stanley Cup Playoff series between the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes has been long expected and highly anticipated for quite some time. The top two teams in the Metropolitan Division — and many would argue, the entire NHL — will meet for the second time in the past three postseasons, with the winner moving on to the Eastern Conference Final. The Rangers arrived here after sweeping the Washington Capitals in the first round. The Hurricanes finished off the Islanders in five games. One of these two Metro teams has been in the conference f ..read more

Danny Wild-USA TODAY SportsDanny Wild-USA TODAY Sports Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour might be trying to butter up the New York Rangers with some recent comments ahead of their Eastern Conference Second Round series. When asked about facing the Blueshirts, the well-regarded bench boss didn’t hesitate to heap praise. “What don’t they have? They’re the best team in the League,” he exclaimed on Wednesday. To be fair, the Rangers did finish with 55 wins and 114 points to claim the Presidents’ Trophy as the best regular-season team. They also dispatched the Washington Capitals in fo ..read more

Danny Wild-USA TODAY SportsDanny Wild-USA TODAY Sports Good luck trying to get Vincent Trocheck to take the bait that the upcoming Eastern Conference Second Round is more important to the New York Rangers center because he’ll be playing against his former team, the Carolina Hurricanes. When pressed on the subject following practice Thursday, Trocheck couldn’t have looked nor acted more non-plussed. “It’s a playoff series that we need to get past to get to our goal to win the Stanley Cup,” Trocheck responded matter-of-factly on the topic. “It’s just another series.” The Rangers, who signed Troc ..read more

James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports New York Rangers fans hoping to catch the Blueshirts on the road against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Second Round could have trouble scoring a seat. SNY is reporting prospective customers are met with this message when trying to purchase tickets to Games 3, 4 and 6 against the Rangers at PNC Arena: PNC Arena is located in Raleigh, NC. Sales to this event will be restricted to residents of North Carolina, South Carolina and southern parts of Virginia. Residency will be based on credit card billing address. Orders by residents outside North C ..read more

James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports When Dave Maloney looks at the upcoming Eastern Conference Second Round between the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes, the former Blueshirts captain and long-time radio analyst sees “two of the top three teams in the League,” and a best-of-7 series that should be so close, it could go either way. The deciding factor in this series just might be which team can impose its will more. And at the crux of that, Maloney believes, is how the Rangers can slow down the Hurricanes and their “relentless pace” of play. “When you talk about the Carolina speed, they are ..read more

Brennan OthmannHartford Wolf Pack Brennan Othmann was among several heroes for the Hartford Wolf Pack on Wednesday, helping the New York’s Rangers AHL affiliate to a 4-3 win in Game 1 of their Calder Cup Playoff series against the Providence Bruins. Othmann’s status had been in doubt after the 21-year-old forward was knocked out of Hartford’s series-clinching 3-1 win against the Charlotte Checkers on Sunday. New York’s first-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft was shaken up after being checked from behind into the boards late in that second period. He didn’t return to the game and was questionabl ..read more

Kyle Ross-USA TODAY SportsKyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports The New York Rangers won the 2023-24 Presidents’ Trophy after posting a 55 win and 114 point season. However, all year they’ve been behind the Carolina Hurricanes by oddsmakers to win the Stanley Cup. So no one should be shocked that they’re considered the underdog in their Eastern Conference Second Round matchup against them, despite having home-ice advantage. Are the Rangers concerned? According to captain Jacob Trouba, not one bit. “I don’t think anybody in here really cares too much about the outside noise and all that chatter,” Trouba s ..read more

James Guillory-USA TODAY SportsJames Guillory-USA TODAY Sports The New York Rangers returned to practice Wednesday after two days off, which followed a first-round series sweep against the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Blueshirts came out of that series healthy and now receive extra rest by virtue of winning in four games. Next up for the Rangers is a tougher series against the Carolina Hurricanes, who made fairly quick work of the New York Islanders, finishing off that first-round series with a 6-3 win in Game 5 on Tuesday. The Hurricanes did not come out of that series ..read more

Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY SportsWendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports Peter Laviolette is not about to share any lineup decision ahead of the New York Rangers’ Eastern Conference Second Round series against the Carolina Hurricanes. But the Rangers coach did make it a point to mention Carolina’s team speed being an important part of this best-of-7 several times when he met with reporters Wednesday. So, does that mean Laviolette is contemplating a change or two in New York’s lineup to combat Carolina’s relentless attack and overall speed? And would he make changes to a lineup that swept the Washington Capi ..read more

Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY SportsWendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports The stage is set for the Eastern Conference Second Round when the New York Rangers face off against the Carolina Hurricanes. New York came out on top in the regular-season series, two games to one. The Rangers and Hurricanes will now meet in a best-of-7 series with a trip to the Eastern Conference Final on the line. The Rangers were outscored 7-4 in the season series. They had three different goal scorers in the three games. Chris Kreider registered two goals, and Will Cuylle and Adam Fox each had one. Carolina had two goals from Andre ..read more