New York Rangers at Carolina Hurricanes 5/18/22 - NHL Picks & Predictions

Last Updated: 05/17/2022 at 8:41 PM ET

New York Rangers at Carolina Hurricanes 5/18/22 - NHL Picks & Predictions

On Wednesday, the New York Rangers play Game 1 of their NHL Eastern Conference second round best-of-seven series on the road against the Carolina Hurricanes. New York rallied from a 3-1 deficit in their first-round series to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins by winning each of the final three games of the series. New York won Game 7 4-3 in overtime on a goal by Artemi Panarin.

During the playoffs, the leading goal scorer for New York has been Chris Kreider with five, while Andrew Copp has scored four goals. The leader in assists is Mika Zibanejad with eight, while Adam Fox has seven and Zibanejad and Fox our first and second in points with 11 and 10 respectively. Goalie Igor Shesterkin is 4-2 with a goals-against average of 3.66 and save percentage of .910.

Carolina eliminated the Boston Bruins 4-3 in their first-round series. The Hurricanes defeated the Bruins 3-2 in Game 7. Max Domi scored two goals and added one assist, while Teuvo Teravainen scored one goal and added one assist for the Hurricanes. Antti Raanta stopped 27 of 29 shots he faced in goal for Carolina. Home ice was the difference in the series as the home team won each of the seven games.

Nino Niedrretier, Andrei Svechnikov, Vincent Trocheck and Seth Jarvis are the leading goal scorers in the playoffs for Carolina with three each. The leader in assists is Tony DeAngelo with eight, while Jaccob Slavin has six. The overall points leaders are DeAngelo and Slavin with eight each. Antti Raanta is 3-2 with a goals against average of 2.37 and save percentage of .927.

Although home ice was a big advantage in Carolina's victory over Boston in the opening round of the playoffs, the visiting team (NYR) has had the advantage when the Rangers play the Hurricanes, winning four out of the last five. New York has won 35 of the last 51 overall against Carolina. The Rangers rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the opening round of the playoffs to beat Pittsburgh by winning three consecutive games and that momentum will carry over into Game 1 on Wednesday. Final Score Prediction, New York Rangers win 4-3.