GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- The New York Rangers have been using the Carolina Hurricanes as their measuring stick for the past few seasons.
"They've been the standard of the division for the last couple years, and even this year they had a great season," Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said Wednesday. "Coming into this year, that's the team you want to overtake, you want to be ahead of in the standings. It's no different in the playoffs."
New York is halfway to flipping the script on Carolina.
The Rangers finished ahead of the Hurricanes in the regular season, winning the Metropolitan Division and the Presidents' Trophy with 114 points, three more than Carolina.
Eliminate the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Second Round for the second time in three seasons, and the narrative will change to Carolina having to use New York as its measuring stick.
"We believe in ourselves in here and we know what's ahead of us," Trouba said. "It's going to be a long, hard-fought series, and that's what we're preparing for."
The Rangers started to prepare for the Hurricanes on Wednesday, their first time on the ice since finishing a four-game sweep of the Washington Capitals in the first round with a 4-2 win Sunday.
They officially found out Carolina would be their next opponent Tuesday, when the Hurricanes won 6-3 against the New York Islanders to win that first-round series in five games.
Game 1 of the best-of-7 series will be at Madison Square Garden on Sunday (4 p.m. ET; ESPN).
The Rangers know what they're up against.
"They're fast," Trouba said of the Hurricanes. "They close fast, they move the puck quick, they throw a lot of pucks at the net. It's just fast hockey. They'll swarm at times. They can get going and you've just got to keep your cool in your own zone at times, get the puck out, live to fight another day. But they come in waves. They're good in the [defensive] zone, they control the puck in the offensive zone and they get a lot of looks at the net."
The Hurricanes were like that two years ago too, and the Rangers passed the test against them, defeating them in seven games in the second round even after losing Games 1 and 2 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.
It got to Game 7 at Carolina, but New York coasted to a 6-2 win.
Trouba said he remembers the emotions in that series, the speed and the highs and lows.
"It went back and forth a lot," he said.
Most importantly, he said he remembers the confidence the Rangers gained from that series.
"We're deeper, a more mature team, obviously two years older for a lot of us, but I think two years ago, we built that confidence of knowing that we can play, we can play in Carolina," he said. "I just think historically we've played them decently. I think we'll be ready to go."
The Rangers won two of three games against Carolina this season, 2-1 on Nov. 2 and 1-0 on March 12. They lost 6-1 on Jan. 2, which began their only slump of the season; New York went 4-7-2 from Jan. 2-26 and 51-16-2 otherwise.
Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said they were on their heels too much in the 6-1 loss to the Hurricanes. They were aggressive, on their toes, attacking and fast in the other two games.
"We've got to make sure we're playing the game we want to play," Laviolette said. "We know it's going to be fast. We know it's going to be competitive. That's when we're at our best and that's when they're at their best as well -- they're on the attack, checking forward, pressing, pressing, pressing. We have to be ready for that. We have to be ready from a speed standpoint and a compete standpoint."
The Rangers and Hurricanes each return 11 skaters from the series they played two seasons ago.
Carolina added forwards Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov this season before the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline on March 8. Each played a big role in the first round with four points; Guentzel with a goal and three assists, Kuznetsov with two goals and two assists.
The biggest change for New York is Vincent Trocheck.
He played for Carolina two years ago and had three goals in seven games against the Rangers.
Now in his second season with New York, Trocheck is arguably its most versatile and important all-around forward, a player who impacts every area of its game, including centering one of the best and most consistent lines in the NHL this season with Artemi Panarin on his left and Alexis Lafrenière on his right.
"That's a big piece," Trouba said.
Laviolette said he and his staff have already talked with Trocheck to pick his brain for information on the Hurricanes. But the coach, in full playoff stealth mode, of course wouldn't share the details.
Laviolette also said he and his staff will not show any video from the series two years ago, most likely because they weren't a part of it. It was a different coaching staff with the Rangers and they played a different style.
"I'm not sure you can take a whole lot from last the couple of years," forward Chris Kreider said. "It's a new series, two new teams."
The challenge is the same, as is the prize on the line -- another step toward the Stanley Cup Final.
To be the measuring stick.
