New York Rangers versus Carolina Hurricanes
Both of these teams seemingly breezed through the first round with minimal push back from their opponents. The New York Rangers swept the Washington Capitals while the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New York Islanders in five games. And neither the Capitals or the Islanders ever really tested their opponents.
This comes as a testament to how good these two teams are, and how tough a battle that this series will be.
New York Rangers
The Rangers are an offensive powerhouse this season that helped guide them to the President’s Trophy despite occasional struggles in net. Their roster has developed into one that is incredibly deep and is full or players having career years, including Artemi Panarin.
In the first round sweep over the Capitals, Mika Zibanejad led the way in scoring with one goal and seven points. Vincent Trocheck was close behind with three goals and six points.
Where the big difference in performance came for the Rangers was in net. In the regular season, Igor Shesterkin “struggled” (that is in air quotes as him struggling is still very good) with a 2.58 GAA and .912 SV%. In the first round victory, his numbers have jumped to an astonishing 1.75 GAA and .931 SV%.
Now it is important to note the Capitals struggle to score, and were slumping in a big way in that department. However it is still a good sign for the defensive side of the Rangers’ game as they begin to face more offensively inclined opponents.
Carolina Hurricanes
Much like their opponent for this series, the Carolina Hurricanes breezed through round one against a much less challenging opponent. The Islanders did not pose much of a threat for a team built like Carolina.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Carolina Hurricanes played their game fantastically. They are known as the advanced stat darlings who constantly perform well in possession and shot metrics. Against the Islanders, the Hurricanes had by far the best Corsi for percentage in the league (58.6) taking 59.3% of the scoring chances in this series.
Looking at the individual games, the Hurricanes showed an incredible battle and ability to control the pace as they dominated and fought their way back from deficits in a couple games.
For example, in game two when the Islanders took a 2–0 lead in the first period but the Hurricanes won 5–3. The driving factor was the Hurricanes absolutely dominating play in the final two frames, outshooting the Islanders 29–5.
Now that they have Frederik Andersen back in net, their roster is incredibly strong top to bottom.
Series overview
These two teams are bound to create an incredibly intense and action packed series. Two teams with high offensive potential, two goalies playing some of the best hockey of their careers, and both teams with deep, high quality defensive corps.
It’s hard to even pick a team with a distinct advantage. Whereas the Rangers have bigger offensive stars like Panarin leading the way, the Hurricanes have offensive depth led by Sebastian Aho, who had a career high 89 points. In addition to their 12 players who had 30 or more points in the regular season, depth that surpasses that of the Rangers.
With how strong Shesterkin was in round one, the Hurricanes are going to have to continue to pepper the opposing goalie with not just any shot, but high quality ones, if they want to be competitive.
The Rangers may have an easier time overwhelming the Hurricanes by force offensively with Panarin and Fox able to drive play from all areas of the ice, as well as physically with Jacob Trouba and Matt Rempe around.
Series prediction
New York Rangers in seven games.
Florida Panthers versus Boston Bruins
The Florida Panthers seem to have officially taken the throne in the Battle of Florida away from the Tampa Bay Lightning. After losing the first two iterations of this rivalry in 2020–21 and 2021–22, the Panthers have become the better team in the regular season and have now won this series for the first time as they dismantled the Lightning in five games.
The Boston Bruins once again found a way to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs. This marks the fourth time since 2012–13 that the Bruins have eliminated the Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs, with each series going seven games. Despite some struggles and nearly giving up a 3–1 series lead, the Bruins, on the back of some incredible performances from Jeremy Swayman, took Toronto down in overtime in game seven.
Florida Panthers
Once again led by one of the most well rounded and impactful players in the league in Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers made quick work of the Tampa Bay Lightning off the back of his nine points.
But make no mistake, it was not just Tkachuk leading this charge. Carter Verhaeghe also had nine points and the only lineup regular who did not record a point was Dmitry Kulikov. 11 different players scored a goal as well. This is a team that has four forward line and three defensive pairings that can contribute offensively. That poses a major threat to any team.
A potential area of concern for the Panthers is in net. Although Sergei Bobrovsky had a fantastic season, shown by his recent nomination for the Vezina Trophy, he had an .896 SV% and 2.78 GAA in the first round. This could just be a factor of a dangerous Lightning offence, as he did have 1.4 GSAA according to Moneypuck, but it may be something to watch for moving forward.
Boston Bruins
Contrast to the Panthers, the Bruins best player was their goalie. Swayman posted a .950 SV% and 1.49 GAA in the series versus the Maple Leafs. A team built for offence in Toronto was stymied by the Bruins goaltender. It bodes a serious threat to any opponent, really, when faced with the prospect of going up against a goaltender on top of his game like that.
Aside from him, however, the Bruins are going to need more from a lot of their skaters. Brad Marchand aside, most of the Bruins skaters struggled offensively. The team averaged just 2.57 goals per game, which will either be third or second least of any first round series winner depending on the outcome of the Vegas Golden Knights-Dallas Stars series.
In particular, David Pastrnak struggled. He had three goals and five points in the series and got called out by Head Coach Jim Montgomery ahead of Game 7. He did respond well, eventually scoring the overtime winner, so time will now tell if that was a lasting wake up call.
Series overview
This series is a rematch of one of the most surprising playoff moments in modern memory. The second wild card seeded Panthers who barely scraped into the playoffs beat the Bruins coming off of the best regular season in NHL history, coming back from a 3–1 series deficit. Boston being the team and organization that they are will be eager to right the ship and get some payback. Expect them to come out flying and battling.
The Panthers have the advantage on paper in this series with a stronger and deeper roster. The real X-Factor is going to be the goalies. Will Bobrovsky have better numbers in round two against a less offensively potent team? And will Swayman be able to maintain his out-of-this-world statline against a more offensive potent team?
The battle between Tkachuk and Marchand should be fantastic one to watch. Two of the most instigating presences in the league going up against each other in the playoffs again battling to gain momentum for their respective clubs.
Overall, the depth of the Panthers will pose a major threat to the Bruins and should be a key deciding factor.
Series prediction
Florida Panthers in six games.
