Power play, blocked shots prove to be the difference for Rangers in Game 1

It was Cinco De Mika [Zibanejad] at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon. 

Game 1 was unfamiliar territory for this Carolina Hurricanes team. Thanks to their regular season dominance over the past five seasons, Sunday afternoon’s game would be their first time opening up a series on the road since the 2019 Eastern Conference final.

That showed in the opening 20 minutes. 

“You want to start on time, you know the emotion in the building. That’s part of playoff hockey, which is great,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. I don’t know that it’s really any different from the message you would give in Game 1 of the regular season.”

After the Rangers’ strong start to the game, it appeared the team was possibly more flustered than their head coach had expected.

“Just understand that the stakes are higher, there will be a little more emotion. Our guys have been through this enough, you don’t really have to dwell too much on that,” Brind’Amour added.

It took less than three minutes for Zibanejad to open the scoring for the Rangers. But the Hurricanes were able to rally rather quickly, with Jaccob Slavin scoring a minute later.

Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin would collaborate to cause more chaos for the Canes the rest of the way en route to a 4-3 victory.

Zibanejad and the Rangers’ power play will get a lot of the glory, but the line of Will Cuylle, Alex Wennberg, and Kaapo Kakko was incredibly impactful. Kakko, in particular, was very excited about matching up against the Hurricanes because of their man-to-man defensive zone coverage.

“I like to play man-on-man, especially down low behind the net, try to lose your guy, and create a chance because of that,” Kakko said during practice earlier in the week. “I think that’s gonna be good for us.”

Wennberg’s line and the Rangers’ fourth line, consisting of Barclay Goodrow, Jimmy Vesey, and Matt Rempe, did their jobs at 5-on-5, which was a major concern coming into this series. The narrative online was that Carolina was the clear-cut better team at 5-on-5, but the Rangers remained disciplined and limited Carolina’s odd-man rushes along with any high-danger chances.

“I thought we did a great job at setting the tone in the game,” Braden Schneider said. “They’re a team that’s known for their work ethic. You knew they’d be coming to work and you have to try and match that – I thought we did a great job.”

New York’s biggest goal came from the guy they need to step up the most this postseason, Artemi Panarin. Panarin’s shoot-first mentality has elevated his game all year, so his decision to look off Trocheck on the 2-on-1 in the third period paid dividends.

Panarin is aware of the criticism he’s gotten for being “too cute” at times, but he’s used that all year as motivation. His three goals this postseason are all game-winners.

“I’ve been reading too many comments on TikTok,” Panarin joked, referring to shooting instead of passing to Trocheck on the odd-man rush.