James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA – Photo by Icon sport

Carolina Hurricanes vs New York Rangers Game 1: Eastern Conference Playoffs – Second Round

The Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers are opening the second-round series on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

The Hurricanes are among the favorites to win it all

The Carolina Hurricanes finished the regular season second in the Eastern Conference with a 52-23-7 record. They had no problem against the New York Islanders in the opening playoff round, moving on in five games. Their only loss in the series came in Game 5 in overtime. Seth Jarvis had a great series with 7 points, and three other players had five.

Is this the season for the Rangers?

The New York Rangers had the best regular-season record in the entire league at 55-23-4. They absolutely dominated the Washington Capitals in the opening round, sweeping them with a total score of 15-7. Mika Zimanejad had seven points in the series, followed by Vincent Trocheck with six.

Betting Trends

The Rangers have won 7 of the last 9 games overall and 5 of the last 7 home games against the Hurricanes. New York is 6-0 SU in their last 6 games overall and 6-1 SU in their last 7 home games. The Rangers have played under the total goal line in 4 of their last 5 games against the Hurricanes and in 5 of their last 7 games overall. Carolina is 9-2 SU in their last 11 games and 11-4 SU in their last 15 games on the road. They have played under the total goal line in 10 of the last 14 games against teams from the Eastern Conference and in 13 of the last 18 games against teams from the Metropolitan Division.

Prediction and Conclusion

Both teams have come in with players with one goal and one goal only, and that is to win the Stanley Cup. They finished only three points apart in the regular season in the top two spots in the East. Neither team had any difficulties in the opening round, but the real deal is starting tonight. The Rangers have had a better head-to-head record in recent years against the Hurricanes, but Carolina has lost only twice in their last 11 games on the road. When it comes to winning, this game can easily go either way, but what is certain is that both teams are excellent on defense, and we are going with under 5.5 goals in total.