2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Rangers vs. Hurricanes Eastern 2nd Round preview

The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs will feature the eight teams that advance out of the first round in four best-of-7 series. Today, NHL.com previews the Eastern Conference Second Round between the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes.

(1M) New York Rangers vs. (2M) Carolina Hurricanes

Rangers: 55-23-4, 114 points; defeated Washington Capitals 4-0 in the first round

Hurricanes: 52-23-7, 111 points; defeated New York Islanders 4-1 in the first round

Season series: NYR 2-1-0, CAR 1-2-0

Game 1: Sunday, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN)

The New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes will meet in the Eastern Conference Second Round for the second time in three seasons.

The Rangers won a seven-game series against the Hurricanes in the 2022 second round to advance to the Eastern Conference Final, where they lost in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"Two years ago, we built that confidence of knowing that we can play, we can play in Carolina," Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba said. "I just think historically we've played them decently. I think we'll be ready to go. It's going to be a fast game. I don't think either team is a whole lot different; it's two top teams in the League."

Many of the players who were part of that series are expected to be a part of this one, including Vincent Trocheck. He was New York's leading goal scorer in the first round (three goals), but in 2022, Trocheck was playing for the Hurricanes, scoring three goals against the Rangers.

"That's a big piece," Trouba said.

The Hurricanes will be trying to reach the Eastern Conference Final for the second year in a row and third time since 2019.

They got to the second round by defeating the New York Islanders in five games, including a series-clinching 6-3 win at PNC Arena on Tuesday. They had 12 different goal scorers in the first round.

Carolina was swept by the Florida Panthers in the conference final last year, scoring six goals. But this year, the Hurricanes have a more dynamic offense with the additions of Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov, who were acquired before the 2024 NHL Trade deadline, and Andrei Svechnikov, who was injured and didn't play in the playoffs last year.

Svechnikov had five points (one goal, four assists), and Guentzel (one goal, three assists) and Kuznetsov (two goals, two assists) each had four points in the first round.

"Whenever you can acquire two guys that are playoff proven and know when to show up in big games, it's a big boost to your team, having guys like 'Guentz' and 'Kuzy'," Carolina forward Seth Jarvis said. "Just overall, having 'Svechy' back in the lineup, I think that's what we missed a lot last year. Just three guys like that that are so dynamic, guys that thrive in the big moments and have fun, is huge for our team, huge for our locker room."

The Rangers got to the second round after sweeping the Washington Capitals in the first round, their first 4-0 playoff series win since 2007. They had 10 different goal scorers in the four games.

"I think that's going to be huge for us and it has been huge and we noticed that [against Washington]," Rangers center Mika Zibanejad said. "We have four good lines that can play against any other opponent's lines and do a good job defensively and offensively."

New York has home-ice advantage after finishing first in the Metropolitan Division and winning the Presidents' Trophy in the regular season, leading the NHL with 114 points and 55 wins, both single-season team records.

The Hurricanes were second in the Metropolitan, three points behind the Rangers.

The Rangers won two of the three regular-season games against Carolina, 2-1 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 2 and 1-0 at PNC Arena on March 12. The Hurricanes won 6-1 at the Garden on Jan. 2.

"The Rangers are the best team in the League, right?" Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "So, we know what they're all about. They've got immense talent, coached really well and good goaltending. What don't they have? We know it's going to be a tough matchup."

The coaches in this series provide an interesting subplot. They share their greatest moment in hockey; Laviolette was the Hurricanes coach in 2006, when they won the Stanley Cup with Brind'Amour as their captain.

"There's got to be some timeframe or expiration date on what you're asking, a statute of limitations," Laviolette said jokingly when asked if his history with Brind'Amour makes this series different. "I think it's like 12 years and I'm on the flip side of that, so this is just a series."

Game breakers

Rangers: Zibanejad led the Rangers with seven points (one goal, six assists) and Trocheck had a team-high three goals in the first round, but Artemi Panarin is the most dangerous forward because of his elite skill level, vision, skating and shot. He had a relatively quiet first round with three points (two goals, one assist), bud led the Rangers and was fourth in the NHL with 120 points in the regular season. Panarin has points in 69 of the 86 games the Rangers have played, including 67 of 82 in the regular season.

Hurricanes: Kuznetsov is made for this time of the season. He's not the player that had 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) while with the Capitals during their march to the Stanley Cup in 2018 but he still understands and embraces the moment. In a Game 1 win against the Islanders, he had the series-opening goal and an assist, but also called his team out for not being good enough. In Game 5, he scored on a penalty shot, and had an assist as the Hurricanes advanced. Kuznetsov has never shrunk from the biggest moments. He won't start now.

Goaltending

Rangers: Igor Shesterkin delivered exactly what the Rangers needed of him in the first round, which was his same level of expected elite goaltending. He allowed seven goals on 101 shots in the four games for a 1.75 goals-against average and .931 save percentage. He helped the Rangers go 15 for 17 on the penalty kill, turning aside 12 of Washington's 14 shots on the power play. It was a continuation of Shesterkin's strong second half of the regular season, when he found his game after a tough first half and returned to being one of the top goalies in the NHL. Shesterkin went 17-5-1 with four shutouts, a 2.20 GAA and .930 save percentage in 23 games from Feb. 9 through the end of the season. He was 19-12-1 with a 2.86 GAA, .899 save percentage and no shutouts in his first 32 games. In 32 career playoff games, all starts, Shesterkin is 17-14 with a 2.36 GAA and .929 save percentage.

Hurricanes: Frederik Andersen was a revelation in the first round, with a 2.25 GAA and .912 save percentage in the five-game ouster of the Islanders. Other than a rough first period in Game 2, Andersen was rock solid and answered all the questions that followed him in his comeback from blood-clotting issues. Andersen had not played back-to-back games since returning from his injury on March 7. If he falters, Pyotr Kochetkov is waiting. He was 23-13-4 with a .911 save percentage and 2.33 GAA in 42 games (40 starts) during the regular season, many as the No. 1 while Andersen was out.

Numbers to know

Rangers: Ten players scored at least one goal and 14 of 18 skaters had at least one point in the first round. The only players without a point were forwards Will Cuylle and Alex Wennberg, and defensemen Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider. New York scored eight goals on special teams in the first round; six on the power play and two shorthanded. Trocheck won 52 of 73 face-offs (71.2 percent) against the Capitals and the Rangers won 55.4 percent of face-offs in the series. New York had the lead for 163:35 in the first round. It trailed for 3:21 and was tied for 73:04.

Hurricanes: The Hurricanes had 411 shot attempts against the Islanders in the series, including a first-round high of 110 in a 5-3 comeback win in Game 2. That's 121 more than the Islanders managed and is a testament to not only Carolina's defensive depth, but also the effectiveness of their forecheck. The Hurricanes are a big, heavy team that likes to be aggressive on its forecheck and hem the opposition within its own end. It pays dividends in both the short term and the long term.

X-factors

Rangers: Jack Roslovic, acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets prior to the NHL Trade Deadline, had four points (two goals, two assists) against the Capitals in the first round playing mostly on a line with forwards Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. Roslovic was also tied with Trocheck for New York's lead in power-play goals (two each) in the opening round and plays mostly on the second power-play unit. -- Pete Jensen

Hurricanes: Teuvo Teravainen has a four-game point streak and had two goals and two assists in five games against the Islanders in the first round. He also had a strong finish to the regular season with a three-game goal streak and five points (four goals, one assist) in that span. Teravainen has high upside in Carolina's top-six forward group and usually sees ice time with either Jarvis or Sebastian Aho and Svechnikov, depending on the game. Teravainen also usually plays on the second power-play unit with Kuznetsov, Stefan Noesen, Martin Necas and Skjei." -- Anna Dua

They said it

"They're fast. They close fast. They move the puck quick. They throw a lot of pucks at the net. It's just fast hockey. They'll swarm at times. They can get going and you've just got to keep your cool in your own zone at times, get the puck out, live to fight another day. But they come in waves. They're good in the 'D' zone, they control the puck in the offensive zone and they get a lot of looks at the net." -- Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba

"They have high, top-end talent for sure. The power play is really good, so we'll need to be good on specialty teams. We will try to get a bunch of shots on net and get traffic in front of their goalie, who is one of their best players. It's going to be a real tough test, and we're looking forward to it." -- Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei

Will win if…

Rangers: They can win the special teams battle. The Hurricanes were slightly better than the Rangers on special teams in the regular season which says something since New York was third on the power play (26.4 percent) and penalty kill (84.5 percent). Carolina was second on the power play (26.9 percent) and first on the penalty kill (86.4 percent). The Rangers also need to be at least even or slightly ahead at 5-on-5. That's going to be their biggest challenge. To do it, they're going to have to win a lot of the 1-on-1 battles. The Hurricanes are a 1-on-1 defending team, but the Rangers can get them out of their structure by winning board battles and puck battles in the corner and funneling the puck to the net. They can get numbers there if the Hurricanes are out of structure.

Hurricanes: They need to dominate the forecheck battle in order to neutralize the advantages the Rangers possess. By being aggressive on the puck in the attacking zone and forcing turnovers to accelerate their cycling game, the Hurricanes can force the Rangers, especially, their top players, to play defense. It will also allow for an opportunity to slow down the transition game of the Rangers, particularly as the series goes deeper. Carolina is not shy about punishing the opposition's defensemen when they go back to get the puck. The Hurricanes believe it not only causes the turnovers they seek, but fosters indecision and mistakes as the series drags on and the punishment accumulates.

How they look

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Jack Roslovic

Artemi Panarin -- Vincent Trocheck -- Alexis Lafreniere

Will Cuylle -- Alex Wennberg -- Kaapo Kakko

Jimmy Vesey -- Barclay Goodrow -- Matt Rempe

Ryan Lindgren -- Adam Fox

K'Andre Miller -- Braden Schneider

Erik Gustafsson -- Jacob Trouba

Igor Shesterkin

Jonathan Quick

Scratched: Zac Jones, Chad Ruhwedel, Jonny Brodzinski, Louis Domingue, Adam Edstrom, Filip Chytil

Injured: Blake Wheeler (lower body)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Jake Guentzel -- Sebastian Aho -- Andrei Svechnikov

Teuvo Teravainen -- Jordan Staal -- Seth Jarvis

Jordan Martinook -- Jack Drury -- Martin Necas

Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Stefan Noesen

Jaccob Slavin -- Brent Burns

Brady Skjei -- Tony DeAngelo

Dmitry Orlov -- Jalen Chatfield

Frederik Andersen

Pyotr Kochetkov

Scratched: Jackson Blake, Brendan Lemieux, Maxime Comtois, Scott Morrow, Bradly Nadeau, Spencer Martin, Dylan Coghlan, Ryan Suzuki, Ronan Seeley, Antti Raanta

Injured: Jesper Fast (upper body), Brett Pesce (lower body)

NHL.com senior director of editorial Shawn P. Roarke contributed to this story