The New York Rangers will play the Florida Panthers or Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Final.
New York eliminated the Carolina Hurricanes with a 5-3 win in Game 6 of the second round at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday to advance to the conference final for the second time in three seasons. They were defeated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in 2022.
The Rangers (55-23-4), the No. 1 seed from the Metropolitan Division, will have home-ice advantage against the Panthers (52-24-6), the No. 1 seed from the Atlantic Division, or the Bruins (47-20-15), the No. 2 seed from the Atlantic. The Panthers lead that best-of-7 series 3-2 with Game 6 at TD Garden in Boston on Friday (7 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).
“I don’t know the schedule, what’s going to happen here and when we’ll be called to the table again for Game 1,” New York coach Peter Laviolette said on Thursday. “It’s exciting and I think everybody is fired up about that. But I think we’ve been fortunate with the way that the season ended and the way that the first round ended, there was a little bit of rest and almost like a mini training camp to try to get ready for the next opponent.
“It has worked really well. I think we’ll have a few days. I think we’ll be afforded some of that again, which is nice, and then we’ll be ready. When they tell us it’s time to go, we’ll be ready to go.”
Mika Zibanejad (three goals, 11 assists) and Vincent Trocheck (six goals, eight assists) each have 14 points to lead the Rangers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Artemi Panarin has 11 (four goals, seven assists), and Chris Kreider (seven goals, three assists) and Alexis Lafrenière (four goals, six assists) each have 10. Igor Shesterkin has played all 10 games for New York, going 8-2-0 with a 2.40 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.
“Any series is going to be tough and we’re trying to take it a game at a time,” Zibanejad said. “Right now, just get some rest and we’ll see whoever we play, and we’ll start preparing.”
The Rangers went 1-2-0 against the Panthers during the regular season, winning 4-3 in a shootout at home March 23, but losing 4-3 in Florida on Dec. 29, and 4-2 in New York on March 4. Panarin had four points (three goals, one assist), Trocheck had four assists and Will Cuylle scored two goals. Shesterkin was 1-1-0 with a 2.91 GAA and .898 save percentage. Backup Jonathan Quick allowed four goals on 33 shots in his only start, the 4-3 loss.
The Panthers were 2-0-1 against the Rangers and led by Sam Reinhart’s four goals and five points. Carter Verhaeghe had two goals and three assists, Aleksander Barkov had five assists and Matthew Tkachuk four points (one goal, three assists). Sergei Bobrovsky started all three games and had a 2.59 GAA and .919 save percentage.
The Rangers and Panthers have played once in the playoffs, the 1997 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, won by New York in five games.
The Rangers were 3-0-0 against the Bruins in the regular season, outscoring them 14-7. New York won 7-4 at home Nov. 25, and twice on the road; 2-1 in overtime Dec. 16 and 5-2 on March 21. Panarin had seven points (four goals, three assists), Trocheck and Kreider each had two goals and two assists, and Zibanejad had one goal and three assists. Shesterkin made 21 saves in his only start Dec. 16. Quick was 2-0-0 with a 3.01 GAA and .895 save percentage.
The Bruins were led by Trent Frederic (one goal, two assists) and James van Riemsdyk (three assists), and Charlie Coyle scored two goals against the Rangers. Jeremy Swayman was 0-1-1 with a 2.49 GAA and .921 save percentage. Linus Ullmark allowed seven goals on 40 shots in the 7-4 loss.
New York and Boston have played 10 times in the playoffs, with Boston winning seven of them including the most recent, the 2013 Eastern Conference Semifinals, in five games.
The Rangers last advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 2014, a five-game loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
