There was no shortage of questions going into the Carolina Hurricanes’ qualifying-round opener on Saturday afternoon in Toronto. Could they manufacture desperation at a time of year players typically aren’t conditioned to expect playoff intensity? Would the lack of a crowd, and especially one typically as boisterous in the postseason as Carolina’s, affect the team’s emotion? How would they handle a New York Rangers team that they hadn’t beaten in the regular season?
We now have our answers: they sure could; not a bit; and just fine, thank you.
An amped-up Hurricanes squad put their stamp on Game 1 early and repeatedly, jumping out to a lead just a minute into the game and never looking back on their way to a 3-2 win over the Rangers at Scotiabank Arena to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.