Just wanted to put something into perspective with all of the talk about how our team is so much worse than the Rangers or Canes. Here is some raw data:

Through the five game series, Carolina outshot the Isles 169-136. Carolina outscored them 19-12. Carolina was 5 for 15 on the power play, we were 3 for 11. Carolina scored three empty net goals. So if we discount those, Carolina had 16 goals on 166 shots. The Isles had a team save percentage of .903. The Isles scored 12 goals on 136 shots. Carolina had a team save percentage of .911.

Through the first three games. Carolina outshot the Rangers 129-87. Rangers outscored them 11-8. Carolina was 0 for 15 on the power play, while the Rangers were 4 for 13. Carolina has scored 8 goals on 129 shots, with the Rangers having a team save percentage of .937. The Rangers scored 11 goals on 87 shots, with Carolina having a team save percentage of .873.

Analyzing the data, our power play was roughly on par with the Rangers, which is actually fairly impressive given they had one of the best. The difference is that their penalty kill has been otherworldly against Carolina, who unluckily for us also had one of the best power plays. Additionally, the decline in Carolina’s save percentage from round one to round two is staggering, and not all of it can be attributed to the Rangers being a better team than us. There has been some chatter Andersen was hurt sometime during the series against the Rangers, forcing Brind’Amour to go with Kochetkov. The Rangers have been outplayed by the Hurricanes much more significantly than we were when we average the data, and Carolina’s suddenly very shaky goaltending has been the difference.

In sum: the gap between the Isles and Rangers/Canes is not as staggering as some would have us believe. Much of the difference between our series and the Rangers/Canes is due to a bad Islanders penalty kill, a significant regression in Carolina’s goaltending, and a much stronger Rangers’ penalty kill. I am confident that with an offseason and a full season of Patrick Roy implementing his system, combined with some needed roster improvements, we will look much better next season.