Top 3 reasons why the Carolina Hurricanes can beat the Rangers

2. Defense

The Hurricanes have a huge advantage defensively over the Rangers.

As I mentioned earlier, both the Hurricanes and the Rangers are capable of scoring goals at will. But who’s going to stop the other team from scoring? The Hurricanes have a significant advantage defensively, which should give them a huge edge during their five-game series.

Overall, the Rangers allowed 222 goals this season, which is 24th in the league. They also allowed the second-most 5v5 expected goals against per hour, ahead of only the Chicago Blackhawks.

Now, it’s worth noting the Rangers have been better since January. In 2020, they’ve allowed the 17th-most 5v5 expected goals against per hour, which is a fairly substantial improvement. It’s also worth noting the Hurricanes have struggled quite a bit in 2020 defensively. However, there’s an easy explanation. They haven’t had Dougie Hamilton, who was having a Norris Trophy-caliber season before getting injured.

Before Hamilton got injured, the Hurricanes ranked 14th in 5v5 expected goals against. The return of Hamilton should get Carolina’s defense right again. People will be back in their proper roles. The addition of Brady Skjei should help too. So should the addition of Sami Vatanen. And maybe a break is what Jake Gardiner needs to get going.

Defensively, the Hurricanes should have a huge advantage over the Rangers. It’s hard to tell if they will because, well, they haven’t played in a while. But there’s no reason why they shouldn’t.