There are many links between the New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes as both teams fight through their second-round matchup for the right to play in the Eastern Conference Finals.
After two games of no real altercations between both squads, the writing is starting to get on the wall and some trouble could be coming both teams’ way following the developments of Game 1 and Game 2 and what has been said between the first two contests.
While Rangers head coach was the man leading Carolina to its lone Stanley Cup championship back in 2006 and Vincent Trocheck is one of many players sharing links with both organizations, it’s been all about Hurricanes’ Tony DeAngelo agitating the second-round series through the first two games of this matchup.
In Game 2, ESPN cameras caught former Rangers defenseman DeAngelo telling current Rangers blueliner K’Andre Miller “I’ll fight you anytime.”
Miller’s reply to DeAngelo was inaudible. DeAngelo’s second message was not, however, with the Hurricanes defenseman saying “Oh, yeah you’re a (expletive) a–” before the audio was cut off.
Tony DeAngelo Has Dropped the Biggest Hit of the Series
Back in Game 1, DeAngelo already generated some social-media buzz and newspaper headlines when he caught Rangers rookie Will Cuylle high with his shoulder and hit him in the head.
That action prompted the referees to call a two-minute roughing penalty on DeAngelo, one the Rangers took advantage of by scoring a goal less than 10 seconds after the Canes defenseman entered the penalty box.
In an interview with The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus published on Tuesday, May 7, after the Game 1 loss, DeAngelo discussed the series against the Rangers and his feelings when he gets booed by the MSG crowd.
“I actually enjoy it. I think it’s great. It gets me into the game more,” DeAngelo told Lazerus about getting booed by Rangers fans. “It shows you’re getting under their skin, and they’re trying to get under my skin. It doesn’t work, but I get a laugh out of it. That’s all part of the playoffs.”
Andrei Svechnikov Took Tony DeAngelo’s Antics Baton in Game 2
What nobody expected was, however, Hurricanes’ Andrei Svechnikov’s statement included in Lazerus’ story published along with DeAngelo’s answers.
“We hate each other,” Svechnikov is quoted telling reporters after Game 1 (“with a grin,” Lazerus notes). “It’s a good part of playing against those guys.”
That comment is doubly interesting following Svechnikov’s reckless actions in the first period of Game 2 when he skated toward Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin hitting his leg hard and making him fall to the ice.
That play, which was ultimately ruled as a tripping minor penalty and sent Svechnikov to the box for two minutes, developed into a series of multiple altercations from that moment through the end of the game, spanning three periods in regulation as well as a full overtime and nearly eight second-overtime minutes.
Is Rangers vs. Hurricanes Matchup About to Turn Ugly?
Svechnikov’s hit on Shesterkin took place barely past the halfway point of the first period of Game 2.
Following that play, Rangers’ own agitator Matt Rempe decided to tease some retaliation by skating hard toward Carolina goalie Freddy Andersen and covering him with ice.
Later in the game, already in the second period, Jake Guentzel of the Hurricanes got into a brief exchange with Rangers’ Adam Fox in which both landed one punch on each other’s face.
Guentzel got a penalty for the retaliatory punch on Fox with the Rangers defenseman scaping any punishment.
Rangers’ Trocheck had himself a good laugh following the penalty called on Guentzel as Fox was skating away from the little fight.
Rangers’ Jacob Trouba went for a Superman hit on Hurricanes’ Martin Necas but didn’t catch his opponent square. The footage doesn’t make quite clear if Necas was able to slide behind Trouba or if he just slipped, but the outcome and Trouba failing to hit Necas properly was probably for the best.
At the end of the day, Trocheck was the man with the last laugh scoring the final goal of the game after logging a team-high 35:21 minutes of playing time and netting the 4-3 goal in the second overtime.
“On the goal, I couldn’t tell you what happened,” Trocheck told reporters after the Game 2 win. “It went in. I don’t know. I’ll watch it and let you know tomorrow.”
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