Carolina Hurricanes: What to know before NHL restarts pandemic-shortened season

The Carolina Hurricanes will take on the New York Rangers in one of the most unpredictable qualifying round matchups.

The Canes finished off with a better record than the Rangers but in head-to-head matchups this season, the Canes got swept in all four regular season games. New York has more goals per game and a better power play but Carolina has a far better penalty kill percentage and ranks third in shots on goal per game.

The Rangers will be a tough opponent, having played some of their best hockey right before the season was suspended on March 12. Without Brett Pesce and the possibility of Dougie Hamilton not being ready for the series, the Canes will rely on Sami Vatanen to fill the void.

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QUICKLOOK

Division: Metropolitan (4th)

Record: 38-25-5

Coach: Rod Brind'Amour

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ROSTER

Forwards: 

Sebastian Aho, Clark Bishop, Ryan Dzingel, Warren Foegele, Morgan Geekie, Steven Lorentz, Jordan Martinook, Max McCormick, Brock McGinn, Martin Necas, Nino Niederreiter, Jordan Staal, Andrei Svechnikov, Teuvo Teravainen, Vincent Trocheck, Justin Williams

Defensemen: 

Jake Bean, Joel Edmundson, Haydn Fleury, Jake Gardiner, Dougie Hamilton, Roland McKeown, Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, Jaccob Slavin, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Sami Vatanen

Goaltenders: 

Anton Forsberg, Petr Mrazek, Alex Nedeljkovic, James Reimer

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SCHEDULE

The Canes will compete in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers beginning on Aug. 1 when they take on the Rangers in a best of five series.

Game 1: Saturday, Aug. 1, 12 p.m. ET

Game 2: Monday, Aug. 3, 12 p.m. ET

Game 3: Tuesday, Aug. 4, 8 p.m. ET

Game 4 (if needed): Thursday, Aug. 6, TBD

Game 5 (if needed): Saturday, Aug. 8, TBD