The second round of the NHL playoffs kicks off later today when the pucks drops in New York for the Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes. It is a fitting conclusion for a Metropolitan Division final this season, being as NYR and Carolina have both been heads and shoulders above the rest of the division.
It’s also going to be a fascinating clash of styles. The Rangers are average at 5v5, outstanding on special teams, wonderfully opportunistic converters of chances and backed up by world class goaltending. In many ways, Carolina is built the opposite to be tremendous at 5v5 (especially for shot and chance suppression) but traditionally have struggled to make actual goals out of the expected chances they pile up.