Two days after completing a four-game sweep against the Washington Capitals, the New York Rangers know who their second-round opponent will be in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Rangers will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Second Round. The start date for the series is not yet known.

The Hurricanes eliminated the New York Islanders with a 6-3 win in Game 5 down in Raleigh on Tuesday.

So, the stage is set for what should be a doozy of a series between the top two teams from the Metropolitan Division. The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers finished first in the Metro this season, setting franchise records for wins (55) and points (114). The Hurricanes were second in the division with 111 points, which was third most in the NHL behind the Blueshirts and Dallas Stars (113).

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, and the New York Rangers eliminated the Washington Capitals with a 4-2 win in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Capital One Arena on Sunday.

New York will play either the Carolina Hurricanes or New York Islanders in the second round. The Hurricanes lead that best-of-7 series 3-1.

Kaapo Kakko, Vincent Trocheck and Jack Roslovic scored for the Rangers, who are the No. 1 seed from the Metropolitan Division. Mika Zibanejad had two assists, and Igor Shesterkin made 23 saves.

“I just think that it says that we’re a good hockey team,” Trocheck said of the sweep. “We showed it every game. I think even tonight when we weren’t at our best, we still were able to do the little things right whenever we had a lead.” 

Martin Fehervary and Hendrix Lapierre scored for the Capitals, who were the second wild card from the East. Charlie Lindgren made 19 saves, and Alex Ovechkin was held without a point for the fourth straight game.

The Rangers were 3-for-4 on the power play. The Capitals were 0-for-2.

Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer in the first inning after nearly striking out and the host New York Yankees recorded a 7-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

Judge hit his fourth homer of the season after Oakland starting pitcher Joe Boyle (1-4) was called for a balk. Doyle was called for the balk after throwing a called third strike to Judge, who began walking back to the dugout before returning to finish the at-bat.

After the balk, Judge lined a fastball into the right-field seats to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. It was Judge’s 261st career homer and the slugger passed former captain Derek Jeter for ninth place on the Yankees’ all-time list.

Judge also singled in the third for his first multi-hit game since April 13 and fourth of the season.

Anthony Rizzo homered for the second straight game and Juan Soto also homered as the Yankees won for the fifth time in seven games.