Which team has more pressure in Game 6, the Carolina Hurricanes or New York Rangers?

There is no great mystique attached to a Game 6 in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Heard of anyone being called “Mr. Game 6” in all that hockey lore?

But that’s not to diminish from the importance of those series games. One team can end the series. For the other, it’s an elimination game. And by Game 6, it’s deep enough in a series where there often is bad blood between the teams fueled further by the degree of desperation, adding to the unpredictability of the game.

Which brings us to the Carolina Hurricanes versus the New York Rangers, Game 6.

The Canes will go into Game 6 on Thursday having won the past two games in the series but still facing elimination.

For the Rangers, a once commanding 3-0 lead in the second-round series now is a shakier 3-2. After losing Monday at home, at Madison Square Garden, they come back to PNC Arena, which Canes forward Evgeny Kuznetsov promised would be “hell” for the Rangers in Game 6.

Is the pressure more on the Rangers or the Hurricanes? It’s hard to say. If there is a Game 7, it would be Saturday in New York.

“We’re still in the same position we were in the last two games,” Canes forward Seth Jarvis said Wednesday. “We have to win to keep playing.”

Canes center Sebastian Aho said no one is taking a big-picture view of the series. of what could be. It’s only about the here and now and Game 6, he said Wednesday after a team practice at PNC Arena — one that included injured defenseman Brett Pesce.

“What’s past is past and you don’t know what’s going to happen in the future,” Aho said. “The mindset that we have is to go in and try to win the day,

“I don’t know about momentum. You have to do the same work again to have the best chance to win a hockey game. That’s what we’re focused on.”

In Game 4, determined to prevent a Rangers sweep of the series, the Canes focused on cutting down on penalties. They did that — the Rangers had one power play — and won on Brady Skjei’s third-period power-play goal, the Canes’ first of the series.

“Big goal, kept us alive,” Aho said.

The Canes had lost five straight postseason games at the Garden, including the first two in this series. Again, the focus in Game 5 was on being the better five-on-five team and again minimizing the Rangers’ power-play opportunities. They did that Monday in a 4-1 win.

An added plus for the Canes in Game 5: Aho’s line with Jake Guentzel and Andrei Svechnikov did not get on the scoresheet but the Canes won. The goals came from captain Jordan Staal, Kuznetsov and Jordan Martinook while Martin Necas had an empty-netter to finish out a four-goal third period that left the Garden crowd stunned.

“We’re a team that relies on everybody,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Wednesday. “If you can get contributions from whoever and whomever, that’s obviously what we’re kind of built on.

“I mean, we do have elite players, too, but I don’t think we count on them as much as other teams. It’s important we get that balance.”

For Aho, who has a team-best 10 points in the 10 playoff games, winning is as much a matter of doing all the little things as making the big flashy plays.

“Obviously you need every single guy to do it,” Aho said. “ And it’s every night. It takes 20 guys.

“Some guys might score more than other guys, but it might be a guy blocking a shot or winning an important faceoff or killing a penalty or whatever. Sometimes, it’s just making a backcheck and lifting a stick on the rush. Everything matters this time of year.”

In Game 5, Staal got things started in the third by coming off the bench on a change, taking a pass from Dmitry Orlov, making a strong move and finishing to beat goalie Igor Shesterkin.

“Massive goal,” Aho said.

Canes goalie Frederik Andersen allowed a shorthanded goal to Jacob Trouba in the second period, which seemed massive at the time, but that was all. The veteran is expected to again be the Canes starter in net in Game 6.

Another positive Wednesday for the Canes was having Pesce in his first practice since the defenseman suffered a lower-body injury in Game 2 of the New York Islanders series.

“It was good to see him out there,” Brind’Amour said “I don’t think his (playing) status has changed.”

A Game 6 can be memorable

The Canes have had some memorable Game 6 wins and losses through the years in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

In 2019, trailing 3-2 in the opening-round series against the Washington Capitals, they won 5-2 at PNC Arena to force a Game 7 in Washington. They won that one in double overtime — the first series win for Brind’Amour as a head coach.

In 2009, again down 3-2 in the series, the Canes shut out the New Jersey Devils 4-0 in Game 6 at home, then won Game 7 in the “Shock at the Rock” in Newark, N.J.

The Hurricanes lost at Buffalo in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final and at Edmonton in the Stanley Cup final in 2006. We all know how that ended — the Canes twice with Game 7 wins at home to capture the Cup.

None of that history or nostalgia really matters to the Hurricanes, circa 2024.

“We’re just grateful to have another day and will try to make the most of it,” Aho said.