The Carolina Hurricanes had their hopes of advancing to a second straight Eastern Conference Final stomped on by the New York Rangers on Thursday night, who have the Canes on the ropes after winning Game 3 of their second-round best-of-7 series.
Carolina was trailing late in the third period before Andrei Svechnikov kept the dream alive with a late snipe on Igor Shesterkin. But Artemi Panarin broke the hearts of the packed crowd at PNA Arena in Raleigh, scoring on a slick re-direction in overtime to give the Rangers a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.
It's going to take a miracle for Jordan Staal and his club to fight back and even make it close at this point — but the captain has faith.
“We're excited about tomorrow. We're excited about getting better and finding ways to beat this team. It's going to be a new day tomorrow,” said the veteran, per Hurricanes reporter Walt Ruff. “It's going to hurt tonight. I won't get much sleep, but we'll have a new day tomorrow and we'll find a way to win one game. It's been our motto here for a long, long time, and we'll start with that.
“They're a good team too. There are a few things on the special teams side I think we can get better at. We'll start with getting better at it tomorrow and then we'll find a way to win a game.”
The Hurricanes have to find a way to win Game 4 at PNC Arena — and then another three straight to pull off the comeback. The chances are slim, which is brutal from a Carolina perspective after the team loaded up by acquiring Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov at the trade deadline.
It was supposed to be a deep Stanley Cup run for the Hurricanes in 2024, but instead, the roster is just looking to stay alive against a Rangers team that has all the confidence heading into Game 4.
Hurricanes are on the brink
As the Hurricanes practice on Friday and prepare for their first elimination game of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, head coach Rod Brind'Amour admitted he's happy with how the team has performed through three contests — except on special teams.
“We're focusing on how bad we're playing, but we're really playing pretty damn good. I look at that. I'm separating it. There's two games going on here. If you want to write the right story, that's what's going on,” said the bench boss, per Ruff.
“We're losing one [the special teams one] badly, but we're doing pretty damn good on the other one. It's just how can we figure out how to make [the special teams] story a little better? That's the difference.”
It certainly is; somehow, the Hurricanes powerplay is 0-for-15 in the series. That's a recipe for the opposite of success, and considering how potent New York's man advantage unit has been, it makes sense that things have become dire for Carolina.
Still, two of the three games went to overtime and could have gone a different way. It's not much of a concession for the Canes, but there's belief that the team can at least send the series back to Madison Square Garden for a Game 5.
The Hurricanes will look to avoid being swept for the second time in three series in front of the home crowd at PNC Arena on Saturday.
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