Hurricanes Sweep Rangers 3-0 and move onto the Playoffs

The Carolina Hurricanes were easily able to defeat the New York Rangers in the best of 5 series, 3-0 with their strong defense. During the trade deadline this season, the Hurricanes stacked up on defense which assisted them in stopping the Rangers stars of Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad. Another key reason in the Hurricanes’ victory was their ability to score against the shaky Rangers goaltending.

Game 1: Right before the start of Game 1, it was ruled that Rangers starting goalie Igor Shestyorkin was declared unfit to play. That meant the Rangers had to roll with the very experienced netminder, Henrik Lundqvist. The Hurricanes started off hot with Jaccob Slavin scoring 30 seconds into the game. Throughout the game, there were tons of hits and fights but the Hurricanes maintained their lead. They were able to shut down the Rangers’ stars until late in the game. The Hurricanes were able to hold off the Rangers in a 3-2 win.

Game 2: In Game 2, the Rangers started Lundqvist against the Hurricanes once again, hoping he could even the series. However, in this game, the Hurricanes’ first line showed up huge. Young star Andrei Svechnikov dominated by scoring three goals, along with Sebastian Aho getting three assists. The poor Rangers defense could not stop the Hurricanes and once again the Rangers would lose to the Hurricanes, this time 4-1.

Game 3: Finally, in Game 3, Igor Shestyorkin was able to play but it was too little, too late. Although the Rangers started off strong with the first goal, the Hurricanes used their momentum from Games 1 and 2 to propel them past the Rangers. They scored four straight goals, but also stayed sturdy defensively, with goalie James Reimer making key saves to limit the Rangers to only one goal. In the end, the Rangers would lose to the Hurricanes again, 4-1.

The Hurricanes will move on to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.