There’s a couple of different ways you can look at how Game 1 between the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes shook out. At the end of the game, the final score read 2-1 in favor of the Hurricanes thanks to a fluky overtime goal. But as bettors know, the box score is oftentimes misleading.

The puck will drop for Game 2 of the series on Friday night, 8:00 p.m. ET, on ESPN.

Going off of both the eye test and the numbers, the Rangers played their best game of the postseason on Wednesday night. The Blueshirts didn’t give Carolina much of anything in the middle of the ice for the first 40 minutes and were a real threat on the counter-attack. New York was unfortunate not to be up by more than a goal after two periods.

Unfortunately, things came undone in the third period as Carolina imposed its will and tilted the ice towards Igor Shesterkin. Eventually, the pressure became too much. The Hurricanes knotted up the game and would win it in overtime. Despite the loss, the Rangers looked like a different team compared to where they were during the first round, when they spent all series chasing the puck in the defensive zone.

That’s the positive spin on Game 1. The negative spin is, of course, that the Rangers lost a game they were two minutes away from winning. And it’s hard to imagine Carolina doesn’t improve for Game 2.

The Hurricanes finished with the third-best goal differential, second-best shot attempt rate, fourth-best expected goals rate, and third-best high-danger scoring chance rate at 5-on-5 this season. Only Florida averaged more shot attempts and created more 5-on-5 high-danger scoring chances per game. When they’re on song, the Hurricanes are an all-action team that throws everything at you in the offensive zone. That team did not show up until the third period in Game 1. In fact, if it wasn’t for a blood-and-thunder performance from goaltender Antti Raanta, the Rangers would have won without breaking a sweat.

A lot of credit should be given to the Rangers, who were a pedestrian 5-on-5 team during the regular season, for nudging Carolina off-script, but a repeat effort from both sides is unlikely. Even a little bit of a drop in form could be a big problem for the Rangers. 

That said, the Rangers do not need to own the puck to have success. With a high-skill offense, the Blueshirts are usually an opportunistic bunch. The Penguins learned that the hard way in Round 1, as they out-chanced the Rangers for the entire series but still came up short.  

If Game 2 plays out more like the way we expect, bettors should expect things to open up a bit. The Hurricanes should create much more offensively, while the Rangers should be more clinical and bury the chances they had. Raanta was superb in Game 1 and has been solid all postseason, but it’s not all that likely he plays at that level all series long. 

The way Game 1 played out has bettors flocking to the Under 5.5 for Game 2, odds courtesy of BetMGM. That is not surprising since scoring chances were hard to come by and the two teams combined for just one goal through the first 58 minutes on Wednesday night. But both of these teams both have plenty more to give offensively. It’s rare you get plus-money on an Over 5.5 in the NHL these days, so take it while you can.

Over 5.5 (+105)