Antti Raanta, Carolina Hurricanes have 'one of those nights,' as New York Rangers cruise, force Game 7

NEW YORK — The New York Rangers defeated the Hurricanes 5-2 in Game 6 on Saturday night, extending Carolina's playoff road losing streak to six games.

But Game 7 is back in Raleigh on Monday night, where the Hurricanes have won all seven games this postseason — and where they eliminated the Boston Bruins in a seventh game in the first round.

«Being at home has obviously been way better for us,» defenseman Brady Skjei said. «We're going to try to scrap this game. We obviously did the same exact thing in the first round, with the wins and losses at home and on the road.»

Carolina is 0-6 on the road with a minus-16 goal differential, a 1.67 goals-for average and a 4.33 goals-against average. The Hurricanes are 7-0 at home with a plus-17 goal differential, a 3.57 goals-for average and a 1.14 goals-against average.

That dichotomy extends to goalie Antti Raanta in Game 6, who was pulled from just 3:24 into the second period after giving up three goals on 13 shots. In five road losses, Raanta has an .872 save percentage and a 3.96 goals-against average. In seven home wins, Raanta has a .965 save percentage and a 0.97 goals-against average.

Coach Rod Brind'Amour confirmed that Raanta would start Game 7 for the Hurricanes and is confident that his goalie will move on from the Game 6 flop.

«If you're going to go down in a game, these are the easy ones to just let go. Once we got behind, we never really got going again. There's a lot of guys that didn't play very well,» he said. «It's a lot easier to shake off a game like than a game that you're right in and something bad happens.»

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead on a thrilling sequence at both ends of the ice. Goalie Igor Shesterkin (37 saves) made a save on a Sebastian Aho breakaway