Carolina coach looks ahead: 'The Rangers are the best team in the league, right?'
New York Islanders' Anders Lee (27) speaks with Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour as teammate Bo Horvat (14) speaks with Carolina Hurricanes' Jack Drury (18) following the Hurricanes win at the NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Credit: AP/Karl B DeBlaker
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Hurricanes, having dispatched one New York team, now face another.
They’ll meet the Rangers, who won the Presidents’ Trophy and finished first in the Metropolitan Division, in the second round after eliminating the Islanders with a 6-3 win in Tuesday night’s Game 5 at PNC Arena.
It will be the third playoff meeting between the teams. The Rangers won a seven-game, second-round series in 2022 and the Hurricanes swept a three-game qualifying series in the Toronto bubble in 2020 during the COVID pandemic.
“The Rangers are the best team in the league, right?” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “So we know what they’re all about. They’ve got immense talent. They’re coached really well, good goaltending. What don’t they have?”
The NHL has yet to release the second-round schedule.
The Hurricanes may be without former Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo, who took a third-period slash to his right wrist from Pierre Engvall and required X-rays.
Tough spot
Islanders coach Patrick Roy, a Hall of Fame goalie with the Canadiens and Avalanche, knows exactly how tough a spot Semyon Varlamov was in trying to stop Evgeny Kuznetsov’s deliberate first-period penalty shot.
Kuznetsov skated in almost a standstill at 13:22 of the first period before approaching the crease, coming tantalizingly close to the goalie. Varlamov tried to poke check the puck away from Kuznetsov, who instead snapped it into the net.
“It is tough,” Roy said. “Plus, he made a great move. At the last second, he put it just above the pad. It was a nice play by him.”
Holmstrom’s turn
Simon Holmstrom, a healthy scratch the previous two games. was back in the Islanders’ lineup with fourth-line stalwart Matt Martin (lower body, day to day) missing his second straight game.
Holmstrom logged 11:58 and was elevated to Brock Nelson’s second line with Kyle Palmieri in the second period with Hudson Fasching being moved to the fourth line.
Hashtag ouch
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper took a direct shot at the Islanders via social media after the Hurricanes’ clinching victory. The Hurricanes also eliminated the Islanders last season in the first round, albeit in six games.
“Always appreciate the NY Islanders for the Stanley Cup playoff warm-up. 12 to go,” Cooper wrote on X.
Isles files
Tuesday marked Lou Lamoriello’s 325th career postseason game, passing Glen Sather for the most by a general manager in NHL history. It was his 60th playoff match since being hired by the Islanders in 2018. He entered the NHL as the Devils’ boss in 1987 and also spent 2015-18 as the Maple Leafs GM. Lamoriello entered Game 5 second behind Sather (Oilers, Rangers) with 172 career playoff wins, including Stanley Cups with the Devils in 1995, 2000 and 2003 …The Islanders lost 41 of 69 faceoffs (41%).
Switching lines
Brind’Amour tweaked all but his top line, putting Teuvo Teravainen with Jordan Staal and Seth Jarvis on a third line instead of Jordan Martinook. Jack Drury went from fourth-line left wing to second-line center in between Martinook and Martin Necas while Kuznetsov had Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who had been centering the second line, and Stefan Noesen on his wings.
The Hurricanes scored seven goals skating five-on-five through the first four games but Teravainen, Drury and Noesen all connected in Game 5.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
