Familiar Territory: Updates Ahead Of Game 7

RALEIGH, NC. -For the second time in just over two weeks the Carolina Hurricanes find themselves in a win or go home situation.
The continuation of their run in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs hangs in the balance of a Game 7 against the New York Rangers, set for Monday night at 8 p.m.

Home Ice Advantage

Much has been made of Carolina's inability to earn a win on the road since the beginning of May, but that matters none tomorrow. With the contest taking place at PNC Arena, a venue where the Canes haven't lost since April 14, the team is eager to have the crowd at their backs for an eighth time this postseason.
"We love playing in front of this crowd. I mean, it's really loud. It's the loudest we've played in," Tony DeAngelo offered when speaking with reporters Sunday morning. "Obviously it's much louder than what MSG was and what Boston was. It's a good energy boost for us. We have to feed off of it. [We'll be] trying to get the first goal, that will be important and getting the crowd into it early."
While of course it boils down to just one game, the Canes are 25-4-3 in Raleigh since January 15, outscoring their opponents 102-57 in those contests.
Playing in 25 of those affairs, no Carolina defenseman has more points than DeAngelo, publishing 20 points at PNC Arena during the stretch. Having played in his first Game 7 during the Boston series, #77 is eager to put it all on the line once more.
"It's do or die. It's fun, right? A lot of emotions go into it," DeAngelo continued. "You have jitters the day before and in the morning. Your season is on the line. It's a lot of fun. It takes a lot of character from the team to go out there and and play the right way and come out with a win like we did last time. So we'll just try and do the same thing."

Sometimes Change Is Necessary

Amid Saturday's 5-2 defeat Canes head coach Rod Brind'Amour shuffled two of his forward lines, notably separating one of the league's most consistent trios in Nino Niederreiter, Jordan Staal and Jesper Fast.
With Niederreiter swapping roles to skate alongside Vincent Trocheck and Martin Necas, the move paid nearly immediate dividends, as Trocheck put back a rebound for Carolina's second goal of the night on one of the first shifts with #21.
"Sometimes you just need to shake things up if something's not working," Trocheck offered of his thoughts on the situation. "We help try and configure some different lines and see if they'll work when you're down a couple goals on the road."
While it may not have been the prettiest goal the Canes center has scored in his career, Trocheck continued on to say that that's how they'll have to try and create offense as they try and beat Hart & Vezina Trophy Candidate Igor Shesterkin for a final time.
"[We have to get] traffic in front of him. Make sure we're getting second chances," #16 detailed. "He's given us the rebounds. There's been a lot. [We have to keep] getting in his eyes. Obviously if he sees it, he's going to stop it, so we have to try and get those second and third [chances]."
Brind'Amour wasn't 100% committal when asked, but did say "more than likely" he'd be going back to the line combinations that have had success at home for his club. That means that we'd see Niederreiter back with Staal and Fast, as well as Andrei Svechnikov on the wing of Trocheck, opposite Necas.
However, we did see a new lineup change for Carolina during Game 7 of the Boston series, with Steven Lorentz drawing in and Max Domi working with Trocheck and Necas, so anything is possible. The new development that has since changed the landscape of the lineup is Jordan Martinook returning from injury.

Sticking With Rants

When Rod Brind'Amour pulled Antti Raanta 3:24 into Saturday night's second period it was the first time since January 13 that he made a goaltending change mid-game that was not injury related.
In fact, that January 13 contest against Columbus in which Jack LaFontaine entered for Frederik Andersen, making his NHL debut, was one of just two times during the regular season that Brind'Amour made such change with injury not playing a factor.
"It wasn't all on him. He let in a couple he'd like to have back. It's all about getting him ready for Game 7, that's the mentality," Rod Brind'Amour elaborated. "Their goalie was pulled a couple times too last series. It's not always necessarily on the goalie."
When asked about the television broadcast insinuating that Raanta was tired, Brind'Amour quickly rebutted saying that that's not the case.
"He's been great. It happens, right? I'm sure he'd like to have one of the goals back, but there were some breakdowns too," DeAngelo provided in defense of his netminder. "They're still Grade A-chances. He's been really great for us and we have a ton of confidence in him, so I'm sure he'll bounce back tomorrow."
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