RALEIGH, N.C. — Moments after going through the handshake line with Carolina players, Rangers captain Jacob Trouba walked off the ice and bumped arms with Blake Wheeler and the rest of the Rangers scratches.
“Never a f—ing doubt!” Trouba screamed after New York’s 5-3 comeback win against Carolina. “Never a f—ing doubt!”
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Thanks to a Chris Kreider natural hat trick and four-goal outburst in the third period of Game 6, the Rangers are headed to the Eastern Conference final. They will play the winner of the Panthers and Bruins, which Florida leads 3-2 after Boston staved off elimination in Game 5.
An Eastern Conference final berth wasn’t the easiest for the Rangers to reflect on postgame.
GO DEEPERHow Rangers rallied to close out Hurricanes: 5 takeaways“Five minutes ago, (I was) thinking about Game 7,” a cheerful Artemi Panarin said postgame. “Hard to say right now about next week.”
Either team will present a test. The Panthers and Bruins had the third- and fourth-best records in the East, respectively, and Florida won the Atlantic Division with a 52-win campaign.
New York had success against the Bruins throughout the season, going 3-0-0. The Panthers gave the Rangers more trouble; Florida won two of the team’s three matchups on the year and lost in a shootout in the other.
As indicated by head-to-head records, Florida would likely pose a tougher test for New York than Boston. The Panthers have a deep forward group highlighted by stars Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart and likely Selke winner Aleksander Barkov, and they added top-six sniper Vladimir Tarasenko and former Sabres captain Kyle Okposo at the trade deadline. Barkov, Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe are all averaging at least a point per game these playoffs.
GO DEEPERBruins-Panthers is an all-time hate-watch series I hope never endsThe Panthers’ group of blueliners is strong, too. Gustav Forsling is elite defensively and led the NHL with a plus-56 rating, and Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour both have appeared on Norris Trophy ballots in their careers.
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is perhaps the Panthers’ biggest x-factor. The 35-year-old is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy after posting a .915 save percentage and 36-17-4 record, but his postseason track record (career .904 playoff save percentage) is inconsistent. Last year was his best stretch of playoff games. He led the Panthers to a Stanley Cup Final appearance with a .915 save percentage. He has an .896 mark in 10 games so far these playoffs.
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Goalie Jeremy Swayman, who was excellent in Boston’s first-round win against Toronto, allowed four or more goals in both Games 2 and 3, but he has rebounded the past two games. He stopped 38 of 41 shots in a Game 4 loss, then allowed only one goal the next game and made a last-second save on Reinhart in the to help keep Boston’s season alive. If the Bruins complete an unlikely comeback in their second-round series, Swayman will almost certainly be a primary reason why. (Boston’s No. 2 is plenty capable, too. Linus Ullmark won the Vezina Trophy last season.)
The Bruins have star wings in David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand. But with Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci both retired, they lack the one-two center punch they had in 2022-23 when they won the Presidents’ Trophy. Charlie McAvoy, who grew up as a Rangers fan on Long Island, is the team’s top defenseman and factored in both of the Bruins’ goals in Game 5.
In totality, Boston has less depth than Florida. The teams’ playoff series so far have shown as much. The Panthers, however, appeared to be a far weaker team than Boston last season, then came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Bruins in a seven-game first-round series. Perhaps the Bruins can flip the script this year; they’re a third of the way there.
The Rangers, who earned home-ice advantage with a league-best regular season, can now sit back and wait to see their next opponent.
Said Mika Zibanejad: “Any series is going to be tough.”
(Photo: Karl B DeBlaker / AP Photo)
Peter Baugh is a staff writer for The Athletic NHL based in New York. He has previously been published in the Columbia Missourian, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kansas City Star, Politico and the Washington Post. A St. Louis native, Peter graduated from the University of Missouri and previously covered the Missouri Tigers and the Colorado Avalanche for The Athletic. Follow Peter on Twitter @Peter_Baugh
