Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina Hurricanes forward Max Pacioretty will undergo surgery to repair a torn Achilles on Wednesday and will be sidelined for six months, the team announced Tuesday.

If Pacioretty returns on schedule, he could make his Hurricanes debut sometime in February.

The Hurricanes acquired Pacioretty and defenseman Dylan Coghlan from the Vegas Golden Knights last month in exchange for future considerations. The move was widely considered a salary dump for the Golden Knights, who freed up $7 million in cap space by trading the veteran winger.

"Adding offensive firepower and improving our power play were priorities this offseason, and Max certainly checks those boxes," Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell said in a news release after acquiring Pacioretty. "This acquisition gives us an elite scorer and another veteran voice in our dressing room."

Pacioretty spent the last four seasons of his career in Vegas, tallying 97 goals and 97 assists for 194 points in 224 games. However, he only appeared in 39 games during the 2021-22 season due to various injuries, though he was effective when on the ice, notching 19 goals and 18 assists.

The 33-year-old spent the first 10 seasons of his career with the Montreal Canadiens, which selected him in the first round of the 2007 NHL draft, before being traded to the Golden Knights for Nick Suzuki, Tomas Tatar and a second-round pick.

In 626 games with the Canadiens, Pacioretty tallied 226 goals and 222 assists.

With the Hurricanes, Pacioretty was expected to slot in on one of the team's top two lines. The franchise will now have to rely on Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, Teuvo Teravainen, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Martin Necas to fill out the top six.

The Hurricanes will still be tough to play against without Pacioretty, but when he returns, they'll be legitimate title contenders.

Prior to the start of Day 2 of the 2022 NHL draft on Friday, the Carolina Hurricanes reportedly agreed to trade defenseman Tony DeAngelo to the Philadelphia Flyers for multiple draft picks.

According to TSN's Pierre LeBrun, the Flyers will receive DeAngelo and a seventh-round pick in exchange for second-, third- and fourth-round picks that are spread out over the next three years.

LeBrun added that DeAngelo agreed to a two-year, $10 million contract extension with the Flyers after the trade as well.

The 26-year-old is a six-year veteran who has played for the Arizona Coyotes, New York Rangers and Hurricanes.

DeAngelo was the No. 19 pick in the 2014 draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning, but before ever appearing in a game for the team, he was traded to the Coyotes in 2016.

He was traded again one year later to the Rangers, and it was in New York where he fully hit his stride as a dynamic offensive defenseman.

His breakout year occurred in 2019-20 when he set career highs with 15 goals and 53 points while also posting a plus-12 rating.

After appearing in just six games for the Rangers in the 2020-21 campaign, DeAngelo was waived in the wake of getting into a locker-room altercation with goalie Alexandar Georgiev.

The Canes signed DeAngelo to a one-year, $1 million prove-it contract last summer, and it turned out to be a quality move, as the right-shot D-man bounced back with a career-high 41 assists to go with 10 goals in addition to posting a career-best plus-30 rating.

While DeAngelo has had some behavioral issues over the years, he is among the best puck-moving blueliners in the NHL, and the Flyers addressed a huge need by acquiring him.

Ivan Provorov, Rasmus Ristolainen and Travis Sanheim are two-way defensemen with perhaps a greater focus on defense, meaning DeAngelo will add some variety to the defense corps.

In the New Jersey native, the Flyers have a power-play quarterback and someone who can lead the rush at even strength, making him a significant addition for a team that went a disappointing 25-46-11 last season.

Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor has won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the player "adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability," the NHL announced Monday.

Connor beat out Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin and Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon for the honor. He is the first player in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history to win the award.

Winning the Lady Byng is an impressive feat for Connor, especially considering Slavin won the award last season and Spurgeon finished runner-up.

Connor set career highs during the 2021-22 campaign with 47 goals and 46 assists for 93 points in 79 games. In addition, he was given just two minor penalties, the fewest among the NHL's top 100 scorers.

The 25-year-old also led Winnipeg forwards with 21:47 of ice time per game and finished 12th in the league with 66 takeaways.

The Jets selected Connor 17th overall in the 2015 draft, and he has been a staple in the team's lineup since the 2017-18 season. In 384 games, the Michigan native has tallied 178 goals and 166 assists for 344 points.

Connor is under contract with the Jets through the 2025-26 season after signing a seven-year, $50 million deal in September 2019.

Somehow, the New York Rangers managed to get to the 2022 Eastern Conference Final without facing a starting goaltender.

They went through Casey DeSmith, Louis Domingue and Tristan Jarry in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

They knocked off the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh in the second round in Game 7 on Monday night with a 6-2 win, facing Antti Raanta and Pyotr Kochetkov.

What could have been in this series if Carolina had its best player, Frederik Andersen? The Rangers will have a much more difficult test in the next round against Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay Lightning, but after winning two Game 7s, you can't count them out.  

"We don’t go away," forward Chris Kreider said. "Regardless of the score."

The Rangers have proved to be an especially tough out, winning their last five games when facing elimination. They excelled in the early rounds of the playoffs by using the same formula they used all season—special teams and goaltending—but the emergence of the "Kid Line" of Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko and the Blueshirts' young prospects, including defensemen K'Andre Miller and Braden Schneider, put the team over the top.

The Rangers' best players played like it, which sounds cliche but is actually crucial in the postseason. Mika Zibanejad is in the Conn Smythe conversation with 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in 14 games. Adam Fox, who opened the scoring Monday, is right behind him with 18. And Chris Kreider leads the team with eight goals. 

The top line of Kreider, Zibanejad and Frank Vatrano and the second line of Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome and Andrew Copp have put up gaudy numbers. But dig a little deeper, and you'll see that a lot of it has been special teams production.

The narrative around the Rangers during the regular season was that they were relying too heavily on goalie Igor Shesterkin and couldn't contain teams at five-on-five. That changed after the trade deadline when acquisitions Copp, Vatrano and, to a lesser extent, Tyler Motte and Justin Braun helped control play more than the Rangers had.

But in the postseason, the Rangers have controlled the shot share less than 50 percent of the time, according to Natural Stat Trick. They have allowed more scoring chances at five-on-five (428) than they have created (309). Their expected goal share is roughly 40 percent. 

Still, the power play is especially dangerous. Panarin and Strome team up with Kreider, Zibanejad and quarterback Fox on the top unit. Copp and the Kid Line are with Jacob Trouba on the second unit. The No. 2 squad doesn't get much ice time, but it's worth it, whether by scoring or creating momentum. 

The power play is clicking at a rate of 32.5 percent, which is the second-best mark in the playoffs behind that of the Colorado Avalanche (34.5), who will play in the Western Conference Final against the Edmonton Oilers. The Rangers scored two power-play goals Monday, marking the fourth time in club history the team has converted with the man advantage more than once in the seventh game of a series.

The kids and veterans seem to be peaking at the same time, and it just so happens to be the right time, which is what the team envisioned for this group all along. 

Four years ago, the club issued the infamous "letter" to fans, explaining the intention to rebuild. The Rangers needed to get younger and faster, and rebuilds are almost impossible to avoid in the salary-cap era.

They quickly assembled an impressive group of prospects. General manager Chris Drury and his predecessor, Jeff Gorton, now the Montreal Canadiens' executive vice president of hockey operations, are known for their keen scouting eyes, but it also took a little luck. The lottery bounced their way in 2019 and 2020, and the Rangers selected Kakko at No. 2 and Lafreniere at No. 1.

The two did not take to the NHL right away, and there were questions about the club's development process, but those have been answered. 

The 22-year-old Miller is playing against tough lines with Trouba. Schneider looks much older than 20. 

Lafreniere, 20, and Kakko, 21, are becoming the impact forwards the Rangers envisioned, and Chytil, 22, is breaking out with five goals.

"I don't think the moment is too big for any of these young guys," Kreider said. "I think every single one of them, they're here for a reason. Not only are they really good people, but they were brought in because they're winners."

That much was evident when they shut the door on Carolina in the third period. Vincent Trocheck ended Shesterkin's shutout bid at 8:11 to make the score 4-1. The Canes had hope, but then Kakko capitalized on a turnover and sent the puck down to the other end. He won a puck battle on the side boards, and Chytil was left all alone in front of the net to snap one past Kochetkov. 

"It's amazing. We're a resilient group in there," Fox said. "We've said it all year. Backs against the wall five times now, and we’ve come through all five. We definitely want to keep this momentum going into the next round. We do have bigger goals."

If the Rangers can take down the back-to-back reigning champs, they may reach those bigger goals.

Wednesday will mark the first conference final game at the Garden since Game 7 in 2015 against, of course, the Lightning. And star-studded lineups aside, the matchup will be billed as Shesterkin vs. Vasilevskiy. 

"He’s the best goalie in the world right now," Shesterkin said. "I think it will be a good battle."

Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour called his team's inability to win road games a "non-issue" entering Saturday's Game 6 against the New York Rangers. But after Carolina's 5-2 loss at Madison Square Garden in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it was all anyone could talk about. 

The Hurricanes have yet to win a road game in this year's playoffs, having gone 0-3 against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden in the first round before going 0-3 against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden in their current series. 

Of course, the Hurricanes have a solid chance to close out the Rangers at their home rink in Game 7 on Monday, just like they did the Bruins in the first round, but the team's play on the road has drawn heavy criticism from hockey fans. 

The team's road playoff record is even more concerning because Carolina was tied for the most road wins in the NHL during the regular season. As one fan put it, the team going 0-6 on the road is "incomprehensible."

The Rangers and Hurricanes will meet again at PNC Arena on Monday, with the Blueshirts looking to become the first team this postseason to get a win in Raleigh, North Carolina, in Game 7.

That said, if the Hurricanes manage to reach the Eastern Conference Finals, they won't face an easy task in holding off the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning at home. 

The Bolts have impressed this postseason with wins over the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers. They'll be out for blood no matter who they face in the ECF as they aim to win their third straight title.

The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New York Rangers 3-1 on Thursday at PNC Arena in Game 5 of their second-round playoff matchup to take a 3-2 series lead and put the Blueshirts on the brink of elimination. 

It was a quiet game offensively for the Rangers, whose only goal came from Mika Zibanejad on the power play. Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider, two of New York's best players, also combined for zero shots on goal in the loss, which is a major problem. 

Fans ripped both Panarin and Kreider for their play in Thursday's game, mentioning that both players need to step up if the Rangers hope to reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2015. 

The duo have effectively disappeared in this series against Carolina. Panarin has just two assists through five games, while Kreider has one goal in that span. 

It's an upsetting performance from both players given their regular-season success. Kreider tallied 52 goals and 25 assists for 77 points in 81 games, while Panarin notched 22 goals and 74 assists for 96 points in 75 games. 

If the Blueshirts are going to extend this series, they'll need Panarin and Kreider to step up when the series shifts back to Madison Square Garden for Game 6 on Saturday. That said, the Rangers have a solid chance at forcing a Game 7 as Carolina has yet to win a road playoff game this year.