When the Rangers took the ice for their first power play of Game 1 of Round 2 on Sunday at Madison Square Garden, the dominance with which they’ve been playing with the man-advantage reflected in their confidence with the puck.
It resulted in one of the most gorgeous power-play sequences the NHL has seen this season, maybe in the past 10 seasons.
All it was, really, was a simple continuation of what the Rangers’ special teams have done all regular season and postseason.
The intention with which the Rangers worked the puck around the zone was unstoppable, fueled by the skilled hands that created it, as each skater touched the puck before Mika Zibanejad buried it for the lead en route to a 4-3 victory over the Hurricanes.
“They’re unbelievable,” Braden Schneider said. “When you’re on the bench, you’re like, ‘Oh my God.’ It’s unbelievable. Two behind the back passes and then a goal. It’s fun to watch. You’re like, ‘Oh my God,’ but then you’re like, ‘Ah, we’ve seen it before.’ They’ve been unbelievable and they’ve really stepped it up in the playoffs here.”
Special teams were always going to play a major role in the series, considering that both teams finished among the top three teams in both categories, with the Hurricanes owning a slight edge.
The Rangers flexed early in this series, going 2-for-2 on the power play and fending off all of the Hurricanes’ five power plays.
That included a very brief 6-on-4 disadvantage in the final 40.5 seconds of the game, which was negated when Andrei Svechnikov tripped Ryan Lindgren at the tail end of regulation.
Vincent Trocheck, who swapped jerseys since the last time these two clubs squared off in the playoffs in 2022, cleaned up a rebound on the Rangers’ second man-advantage opportunity to make it a 3-1 game.
Everyone knows the Rangers have a plethora of weapons to make them successful on the power play, but the way the top unit has worked the offensive zone lately has allowed for impressively quick strikes.
The Rangers scored nine seconds into their first power play Sunday, and 14 seconds into their second.
“The power play was really good, efficient,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “The penalty kill I thought did a great job. Even when there was a lot of time between the penalties and the extra attacker, there’s a lot of time when you’re a man down. For a team that’s shot heavy, it just puts you under duress a little bit, you’re stressed in the defensive zone. Things we can get better at it, but it definitely factored in the game.”
Stopping 22 of the 25 shots he faced, Igor Shesterkin picked up the 18th playoff win of his career, surpassing Dave Kerr for the fourth-most postseason wins in team history.
The Rangers are scheduled to practice on Monday, with Game 2 on Tuesday at the Garden.