Rangers: 3 keys to beating the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Six

It should really go without saying that the Rangers stars are a key to winning in Game Six. Not only is their success a key to closing this series out but also winning a Stanley Cup.

If they can’t carry their own weight on the ice and scoresheet, the Rangers will find themselves having a hard time closing the series out.

Fans have shown their displeasure with this cores inability to close out the series the past two years, but that can be put to rest if they can come out guns a-blazing in Game Six.

Keep testing Freddie Andersen

According to MSG pre and post game host Stephen Valiquette and CSA Hockey, the Rangers only had one high danager scoring chance in the entirety of Game Five. To put it into comparison, they had nine high danger chances in Game Four, eight in Game Three, 11 in Game Two, and four in Game One.

Heading into the third period of Game Five, the Rangers found themselves leading 1-0. Instead of continuing to apply pressure and Andersen and forcing him to make saves, they sat back on the heels allowing the Hurricanes to come right back into the game.

If the Rangers find themselves up heading into the third period in Game Six, they cannot afford to play “play not to lose” hockey, especially against a team that can be as dangerous as the Carolina Hurricanes. They need to keep attacking Freddie Andersen and force him to make tough saves.

A big weakness in Andersen’s game is his rebound control which has been evident in this series. The Rangers need to shoot for rebounds and exploit his glaring weakness.

Tightening up defensively

Through the first four games of the series, the New York Ranger defense did a very good job at not allowing the Hurricanes to generate any offense from the slot. They played a tight defense, which pushed Carolina to the perimeter almost every time they got set up in the offensive zone. When they did score, most of their goals were from deflected shots from the point.

In Game Five, especially the third period, the Rangers defense played loose. Ultimately, it allowed Carolina to have their way in the offensive zone and score four unanswered goals en route to a 4-1 victory.

This thread by Nick Zararis (give him a follow), does a great job showing what went wrong from the Rangers defense on all three Carolina goals (excluding the empty netter).

The Carolina Hurricanes are an extremely physical team and will use their bodies to out muscle their opponent and create inside leverage. The Rangers need to get back to playing a physical game. The way to beat Carolina is to match their physicality and speed which then causes them to create mistakes.

All season, the Rangers have shown their willingness to push through when faced with adversity. But how will they respond now?