With the COVID-19 pandemic putting a hold on sports, there’s been a lot of speculation of how sports can return and when.
The NHL was close to finishing the season before it was put on pause, playoffs were right around the corner. There are various rumors going around of the NHL announcing that the playoffs will be in a 24 team format.
If this is true, then the Rangers will be in the playoffs. Their opponent would seem to be the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. This is different then what fans are used to but, this could be beneficial for the Blueshirts.
The Hurricanes are a young and skilled team, before the pause the team was in fourth place in the Metropolitan division and had a record of 38-25-5.
The Rangers on the other hand were in seventh place with a 37-28-5.
This is a good matchup for the Rangers because the Hurricanes are a similar team. Both teams are young and have similar skill sets. While the Hurricanes had a better record, this matchup would be even. The Rangers shouldn’t be ruled out in this. With players like Zibanejad, Panarin, and Fox the Rangers have a good shot at beating the Hurricanes. Before the season was put on pause, the Blueshirts were playing well and had a serious shot of making the playoffs if the season continued.
During this season, the Rangers had a 4-0 record against the Hurricanes. In those games both Panarin and Zibanejad have dominated. The Rangers seem to be better offensively but would have to work on defense against the Hurricanes as the team has players such as Sebastian Aho, Dougie Hamilton, and Teuvo Teravainen.
A matchup between the Rangers and Hurricanes would be entertaining and good for this young Rangers team.
Playing against a similar skill level can give this new Rangers team a chance to experience the playoffs.
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