3 Keys: Hurricanes at Rangers, Game 4 of Eastern Second Round

(1M) Hurricanes at (2M) Rangers
7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SNO, SNE, SNP, TVAS
Hurricanes lead best-of-7 series 2-1

The New York Rangers have an opportunity to come back from being two games down for the second time in as many rounds when they play Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
Carolina won Games 1 and 2 at home, but the Rangers won 3-1 in Game 3 in New York on Sunday.
New York came back from down 3-1 in the first round against the Pittsburgh Penguins, including come-from-behind wins in Games 5, 6 and 7.
"We've done it all year," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "It's been part of our DNA. That's what we do. I like the way we battle back. We compete hard. Most teams at this time of the year when you're playing, that's the type of team you have. Nobody is going to give up and roll over."
The Hurricanes are 0-4 on the road win during the Stanley Cup Playoffs and one problem has been special teams.
Carolina is 68.4 percent (13-for-19) on the penalty kill and 5.3 percent (1-for-19) with a shorthanded goal against on the power play on the road in the playoffs. The Rangers scored a power-play goal and the Hurricanes were 0-for-3 with the man-advantage in Game 3.
RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs. Rangers series coverage]
At home, where the Hurricanes are 6-0, they are 94.1 percent (16-for-17) with a shorthanded goal on the penalty kill and 16.7 percent (4-for-24) on the power play.
"Obviously special teams have not been a huge positive for us thus far," Hurricanes defenseman Ian Cole said. "And obviously we know that and we're trying to swing that in our favor."
The Hurricanes are 6-3 all time when leading a best-of-7 series 2-1, including 5-2 when starting at home. The Rangers are 11-23 all time when trailing 2-1 in a best-of-7 series, 5-19 when starting on the road.
Here are 3 keys to Game 4:

1. Igor's encore

If the Rangers want to push for more offense, which was a focus of Game 3 and likely will be in Game 4, they know there is a risk in allowing the Hurricanes scoring chances. That happened in Game 3, but goalie Igor Shesterkin was there to be the difference maker.
Shesterkin made 43 saves, his playoff high for a game that ended in regulation.
"Our goalie did his job again, like he always does, and we're back in the series," Gallant said.
The Rangers likely will need Shesterkin to be their best player again. He has been for the past six games, going 4-2 with a 2.14 goals-against average and .935 save percentage.

2. Hurricanes new-look top power-play unit

The Hurricanes showcased a slight change to their struggling top power-play unit in practice Monday, moving forward Nino Niederreiter into a net-front role and dropping forward Teuvo Teravainen to the second unit.
The idea is to give the first group more of a net-front presence, which it did not have during the first three games with Teravainen, Sebastian Aho, Vincent Trocheck and Seth Jarvis the forwards on it, along with defenseman Tony DeAngelo.
Niederreiter is 6-foot-2, 218 pounds.
"Big guy," Brind'Amour said. "We know we've got to get traffic to score on this guy [Shesterkin]. If he's going to see it he's going to save it. I mean, he's world-class and that's part of it. So that's part of putting a bigger guy there. It's flipping units and trying to get a different look for us."

3. Face-offs

The Hurricanes have dominated the Rangers in the face-off circle, a big reason why they've had the puck more during the series.
Carolina has won 58.1 percent of face-offs during the series. Gallant talks a lot about the importance of defensive-zone face-offs; the Hurricanes have won 63.6 percent (42 of 66) in their defensive zone and 55.4 percent (36 of 65) in the Rangers defensive zone.
The Hurricanes also have won seven of 11 face-offs when killing a penalty.
Trocheck (67.5 percent) and Jordan Staal (67.2 percent) have been particularly dominant, combining to win 66 of 98 face-offs.
Brind'Amour, though, said what the Hurricanes do after the face-off matters more to him than actually winning the face-off.
"Knowing what you're doing if you lose it, making sure you've got the coverage," he said. "Every team wants to start with the puck, but it's always what happens after, winning it and losing it, that's important."
He said the Hurricanes have been good in that department too.
"I don't have an issue with anything that's gone on there," Brind'Amour said.

Hurricanes projected lineup

Teuvo Teravainen -- Sebastian Aho -- Seth Jarvis
Andrei Svechnikov -- Vincent Trocheck -- Martin Necas
Nino Niederreiter -- Jordan Staal -- Jesper Fast
Max Domi -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Steven Lorentz
Jaccob Slavin -- Tony DeAngelo
Brady Skjei -- Brett Pesce
Brendan Smith -- Ian Cole
Antti Raanta
Pyotr Kochetkov
Scratched: Ethan Bear, Derek Stepan, Jordan Martinook
Injured: Frederik Andersen (lower body)

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Filip Chytil
Artemi Panarin -- Ryan Strome --
Alexis Lafreniere
Frank Vatrano -- Andrew Copp -- Kaapo Kakko
Tyler Motte -- Kevin Rooney -- Ryan Reaves
Ryan Lindgren -- Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller -- Jacob Trouba
Justin Braun -- Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Alexandar Georgiev
Scratched: Patrik Nemeth, Libor Hajek, Greg McKegg, Julien Gauthier, Jonny Brodzinski, Dryden Hunt
Injured: Barclay Goodrow (lower body), Sammy Blais (knee)

Status report

Andersen took part in practice Monday for the first time since the goalie was injured April 16. He also took part in the morning skate Tuesday, sharing a net with Kochetkov, the expected backup. … The Rangers are expected to use the same lineup from their 3-1 win in Game 3 on Sunday, although the line combinations could be changed.