Canes Corner

We'd like to share a new podcast from 99.9 The Fan. We think you'll enjoy this episode of "A Brief History of Triangle Sports," hosted by Joe Ovies and featuring Chuck Kaiton. Thanks for listening.

The Hartford Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes and moved to North Carolina in 1997. The Canes, as you know them today didn't instantly establish roots in the community. In fact, some fans outright dismissed the concept of hockey in the south and a good number of NC State fans resented having to share a new building with the franchise. Despite those early lean years for the franchise, former radio play by play announcer Chuck Kaiton never lost his enjoyment of the game and his desire to help grow the game with the broadcast. The payoff? A Stanley Cup winning broadcast where Kaiton tied the franchise's history together.

The Carolina Hurricanes had the best penalty kill in the NHL during the regular season. In the playoffs, however, they allowed 13 power play goals and bowed out in seven games to the New York Rangers. New York scored twice with the man advantage in the first 8 minutes of the 1st period to set the tone and the Hurricanes couldn't recover. For the series, the Rangers were 7 for 21 (33.3%) on the power play while Carolina was 2 for 18 (11.1%). In the end it proved too much to overcome.

For the first time in the playoffs the Hurricanes lost because of their goaltender. Antti Raanta allowed a pair of soft goals in the first period and the Canes never caught up to the Rangers. It's the 13th straight time that the home team has won during the 1st two rounds of Carolina's playoff run. Carolina hopes that trend continues Monday night when they'll host Game 7 at PNC Arena.

The Carolina Hurricanes scored shorthanded, at even strength and on the power play as they beat the Rangers, 3-1 at PNC Arena. Carolina takes a 3-2 series lead to Game 6 on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. Vincent Trocheck started the scoring with a shorthanded goal in the first period. Teuvo Teravainen's power play goal made it 2-1 in the second. Then Andrei Svechnikov finished off the scoring with a breakaway goal through Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin as the Canes extended their home ice winning streak to 7 in a row. Now, if they can just snap their 5-game road losing skid...

The Hurricanes got off to a bad start in New York and it led to a 4-1 loss in Game 4. The Rangers got the first two goals of the game to lead 2-0 after one period. The Canes had their chances in the second, but when you get those opportunities you have to take advantage. Carolina didn't, and it ultimately cost them Tuesday night. Game 5 is Thursday night at PNC Arena. The Canes did tie an NHL record with the first 11 games of their postseason all having been won by the home team. The last time that was done was the 1962 Maple Leafs, who went on to win the Stanley Cup. Maybe that's an omen. We'll see on Thursday.

The Hurricanes put 44 shots on Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin. But, only Nino Niederreiter's got through. And that is the anatomy of a playoff loss.

Carolina's penalty kill has helped them win a lot of games this year. It won them Game 2 tonight. Brendan Smith banged home a Sebastian Aho pass for a shorthanded goal in the 2nd period and that was the only offense the Canes would need. Aho added an empty net marker with 1.8 seconds left to support Antti Raanta's 21 save shutout. Raanta's 1st ever postseason shutout raises his save percentage to a sparkling .939 in 8 games. Game 3 is set for Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

Ian Cole's 1st postseason goal in 6 years, at 3:12 of overtime, gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 win over the Rangers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Sebastian Aho's 3rd goal of the playoffs -- his first since Game 2 vs Boston -- got Carolina even with just 2:23 left in regulation. None of that would have been possible, however, were it not for the continued brilliance of Antti Raanta. Carolina's "backup" goaltender is playing like he has no intention of giving the crease back to Frederik Andersen. Raanta made 27 saves in the win and now has a save percentage of .933 in the playoffs. Game 2 is set for Friday night at 8:00

The Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers open up their second round series Wednesday night at PNC Arena. Let's preview the series and talk playoffs with Linda Cohn of ESPN. Then, a conversation on how to wager on the playoffs with Michael LeBoff of the Action Network plus a chat with Carolina defenseman Brendan Smith. There's a lot inside.