Maybe it was because of the nature of the Hurricanes’ first-round playoff series against the Bruins, in which every whistle seemed to end in a scrum. Maybe it had more to do with the number of penalties Carolina took during the regular season, second in the league. Maybe it was the simple logic that more than 60 minutes of five-on-five play with just two penalties in a game is a rarity under any circumstance. 

But the Hurricanes seemed convinced on Friday morning that the lack of physicality in Game 1 of their second-round series against the Rangers will not carry over to Game 2 that night in Raleigh, N.C. 

They were, however, at least hopeful. 

“We want to stay out of all of that, obviously,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Both teams don’t want to get involved in that. It’s always the same story. You don’t wanna take unnecessary penalties, that’s for sure.” 

Despite one of the league’s best penalty kills, keeping the game at five-on-five likely will be more of an emphasis for the Hurricanes than the Rangers as the series unfolds. At even strength, Carolina can rely on its hard forechecking game and make things hard for its opponents, as it did in the third period of Game 1, when the ice was tilted toward the Rangers’ end. 

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The Rangers got just 27 seconds on the power play in the opening game of the series before their advantage was negated by a Ryan Strome trip. Though they managed to generate some chances at five-on-five, special teams have been a key part of the equation for Gerard Gallant’s team all season, and figure to be in this series as well. 

It is likely no coincidence, for example, that Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider both were held in check in the first game, when they were forced to play nearly all night at five-on-five. 

Particularly striking was that there didn’t seem to be any penalties overlooked by the referees on Wednesday. Both teams checked cleanly. They did not shove or come together after whistles. That followed with the game’s pace, a deliberate affair in which neither team recorded more than 30 shots on net. 

“It’s funny,” Carolina defenseman Brent Pesce said. “We were talking about that after the game. … I didn’t see too many missed calls. I’d personally rather have it like that. I like our chances in the five-on-five game. So hopefully we can continue to stay out of the box.” 

Still, Pesce acknowledged the unlikelihood that the rest of the series would continue along the same trajectory. 

“Sometimes [a scrum’s] good for the emotion if you’re tired or whatever, but listen, it’s a long series,” he said. “I’m sure there are gonna be scrums.”