Can the Rangers turn playoff series around in Game 6?

Greg Wyshynski, ESPNMay 16, 2024, 07:30 AM ET

CloseGreg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.

New York Rangers coach Peter Laviolette is concerned.

He wasn’t alarmed when the Rangers suffered their first loss of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs in Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes. He disliked the result, but liked the way they played — with the understanding that three straight wins against the Canes to start the series meant the Rangers had some breathing room.

But Laviolette saw the Rangers “off their mark” in Game 5, a 4-1 defeat at Madison Square Garden that narrowed their series lead to 3-2 and set up Game 6 back in Raleigh on Thursday night.

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They didn’t play with speed. They didn’t have the proper offensive attack. Their details weren’t there. And that concerned him.

“I mean, anytime you don’t play up to your capabilities, you get concerned about that. But I also know that this group has had games like [Game 5] before and they responded,” he said. “I think there’s often times a realization that it wasn’t us. It wasn’t who we want to be. Often times this year, they’ve fixed that.”

What do the Rangers need to fix for Game 6? What do they need to be concerned about?

Here’s a look at how New York’s series with Carolina is trending — and which trends can be reversed:

Hurricanes are widening the 5-on-5 gap

Consensus opinion entering this series was that that the Hurricanes were the better team at 5-on-5. They were first in the regular season and the playoffs in percentage of shot attempts; the Rangers were 19th before the playoffs. The Canes were first and third in expected goals for and against respectively; the Rangers were 20th and 18th in those categories. New York improved at even strength since acquiring Alex Wennberg and Jack Roslovic at the trade deadline, but Carolina has been on another level.

The Hurricanes have had the shot attempt advantage in all five games of this series, and the expected goals percentage advantage in every game…

Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/40153083/nhl-playoffs-2024-stanley-cup-rangers-hurricanes-problems-fixes-goaltending-special-teams

Author : Greg Wyshynski

Publish date : 2024-05-16 11:10:49

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