Plethora of penalties perplex Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 - ESPN

NEW YORK — Hurricanes defenseman Tony DeAngelo heard often vulgar chants from New York Rangers fans during Carolina's 4-3 Game 1 loss on Sunday, especially when his first-period penalty led to a critical power-play goal.

«I don't give two you-know-whats about it,» said DeAngelo, who played for the Rangers from 2016 to 2021.

The Rangers' torrid power play needed just 23 seconds to score twice in the first period. Mika Zibanejad scored nine seconds after DeAngelo's roughing penalty on Rangers forward Will Cuylle, and Vincent Trocheck scored 14 seconds after Evgeny Kuznetsov's cross-checking foul on Rangers defenseman Adam Fox. New York went 2-for-2 against Carolina's top-ranked penalty kill after going 6-for-16 in the first round against the Washington Capitals.

DeAngelo was penalized on a strange sequence that saw Carolina forward Martin Necas initially called for tripping on Cuylle. With Necas in the box, the officials conferred on the ice, and it was determined the wrong player had been penalized: Rather than a trip from Necas, it was a leaping hit from DeAngelo that knocked Cuylle to the ice. After that was established, the officials then announced they were reviewing the DeAngelo hit for a major penalty on an illegal check to the head. It was determined the call was simply a roughing minor, instead.

When asked if the referees had offered an explanation, Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said «not one that made sense» to him.

«I'm not even going to get into it,» DeAngelo said about the call. «It's tough. We had five power plays too, so they can go both ways. It's a tough job for them guys, and then they make a call. So, it is what it is.»

Penalties at inopportune times plagued the Hurricanes in Game 1. That included an