New York Rangers Facing a Different Hurricanes Team on Thursday Night

The New York Rangers had to expect changes as they prepare to face the Hurricanes in Carolina with a two-game lead. The changes the Rangers expected to see were likely with the Hurricanes' Power Play as the Rangers' penalty kill has blanked them through two games. The Hurricanes will however change goaltenders starting Pyotr Kochetkov for game three.

The Hurricanes have yet to start Kochetkov this postseason. During the regular season, Kochetkov went 23-13-4 with a .911 saves percentage and 2.33 GA/A. He did have success against the Rangers going 1-1 with a .962 save percentage in two games.

The move feels desperate by the Hurricanes as Frederick Andersen hasn’t been near the top of the Canes' issues thus far. Changing goaltenders won’t help the fact that the team is continuing to struggle on the Power Play and takes far too many penalties on the defensive end.

The Rangers will likely look to shoot early and often on Pyotr Kotchetkov to try and rattle the goaltender. If the Rangers can score early on the Hurricanes, it may open the floodgates and deflate the team.

The New York Rangers have a chance to fully kill off the Carolina Hurricanes with a dominating win tonight.

The Hurricanes are making a ton of changes entering this game which could backfire and make the team believe that they can’t beat the Rangers. The team can ill afford to let the Hurricanes back into this series after taking a dominant lead.

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