Hurricanes not worried about losing record against Rangers, coach says

The Carolina Hurricanes will not be worried about their losing history against the New York Rangers when they play their best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifier series, coach Rod Brind'Amour said in a recent interview.

"I know the players could care less, and that's what matters," Brind'Amour said. "Most of them have not been around for much of it except for a year or two, so they're not going to be talking about it."

Carolina (38-25-5, .596 points percentage) is the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference under the NHL Return to Play Plan. New York (37-28-5, .564) is the No. 11 seed. The winner of the series will advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the loser will have a chance at the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in the Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery.

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The Hurricanes lost four games and were outscored 17-9 by the Rangers in the regular season, which was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. Carolina is 6-25-5 against New York since 2011-12, when Brind'Amour returned as an assistant and development coach.

"It feels like in large parts of that I remember walking out of there, even in [Madison Square Garden], saying, 'How did we lose this game?'" Brind'Amour said. "That was a lot of them. … I know it's a talking point because it does stand out like, 'Holy smokes, it's pretty one-sided,' but not many guys have really been around it. Hey, maybe I need to stay away from it because I'm the only one that's been around it the whole time."

Brind'Amour confidently jokes because he's content with how the Hurricanes played against the Rangers this season despite losing each game.

Carolina outshot New York 161-104, including 132-67 in the first three games, all wins for Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who made at least 39 saves in each, including 45 in a 4-2 win at PNC Arena on Nov. 7.

"There were a couple of games in there for sure that I thought we were the better team," Brind'Amour said. "Lundqvist made 45 saves and I think 20 were Grade A chances. That game probably should have went a different way. I think the series was closer than 4-0. That looks bad, and if you don't dive into it, it really looks bad, but I liked the way we played against them in the four games. I think it's going to be tight."

Brind'Amour felt the same way last season too, before the Hurricanes opened the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Washington Capitals, who were the defending champions. The Hurricanes didn't win a game against the Capitals in the regular season, going 0-3-1. They then lost the first two games of the Eastern Conference First Round at Capital One Arena but won four of the next five to knock Washington out of the playoffs.

"[The regular season] doesn't really matter, I don't think," Brind'Amour said. "At least that's how we're going to go with it."

Training camps are scheduled to begin July 10 under Phase 3 of the NHL Return to Play Plan provided that medical and safety conditions allow and the NHL and NHL Players' Association have reached an agreement on resuming play. The length of training camp, and the start date and two hub cities for the resumption of play in Phase 4 -- one city for the 12 participating Eastern Conference teams, and one for the 12 Western Conference teams -- will be determined.