Two years ago, the same teams met in the second round. Until the conclusion, home ice meant plenty. Then, the Rangers flipped the script and stormed the Hurricanes 6-2 to win the deciding seventh game in Raleigh.

It’s a second round rematch between two of the league’s best. The winner advances to the Eastern Conference Finals. The lower has all summer to think about what went wrong.

The stakes are high. For the Rangers, they have all the pressure due to winning the President’s Trophy to gain home ice throughout the playoffs. In the salary cap era, only two teams have won the Stanley Cup after finishing with the best record. They’re looking to make it three.

It isn’t like the Hurricanes don’t have pressure to win. They’ve been here before, having lost in the Conference Finals twice. Both times, they were swept. The Canes went all in at the trade deadline by acquiring former Stanley Cup winners Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov. They upgraded the offense.

With the Rangers bolstering their depth by adding Alex Wennberg and Jack Roslovic, that’s helped provide some balance up front. They’re still a bit top-heavy. It’ll be interesting to see how much support they get from the bottom six. In the first round, the play of the fourth line provided a boost.

Now, they’ll face an opponent who finished with the third most points. It’s going to be a true test. How do the Metropolitan Division rivals stack up?

FORWARDS: The Canes are led by Sebastian Aho. He had a quiet first round with only two goals and an assist. Guentzel tallied four points. Seth Jarvis has been the breakout star. He followed up a career best 33-goal and 67-point season by leading the Canes with three goals and four assists for seven points against the Islanders.

Andrei Svechnikov is an explosive skater who plays with edge. Martin Necas and Teuvo Teravainen are good players. Kuznetsov paid dividends with two goals and two helpers in the first round. Stefan Noesen is a net front presence. Jordan Staal remains a steady force. Jack Drury, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and Jordan Martinook lend depth to a well-balanced attack.

The Rangers are led by Artemi Panarin. He had two goals with an assist against the Capitals. Both goals were game-winners. Vincent Trocheck was a standout in the first round with three goals and three assists, along with a 71.2 percent faceoff percentage. Alexis Lafreniere had a strong showing with four assists and some physical play.

Mika Zibanejad came to life to pace the Rangers with seven points (3-4-7) versus Washington. He was splendid on special teams and played better at five-on-five. Chris Kreider got both his goals at even strength. Roslovic was a revelation by recording a point in each game. He’ll need to continue that trend.

Wennberg anchors the third line with puck possession wizard Kaapo Kakko and the gritty Will Cuylle. They’ll have to be a factor. The fourth line is comprised of Barclay “Mister May” Goodrow, Jimmy Vesey, and the beast Matt Rempe. If they fall behind, Filip Chytil is ready to return.

Edge: Even

DEFENSEMEN: Jaccob Slavin anchors a strong unit. He remains a shutdown defenseman for the Canes. Brent Burns can still be dangerous pinching in and blasting away. Brady Skjei is a good skating defenseman who jumps into the rush. His five helpers led Carolina in the first round. Dmitry Orlov plays a key role. No stranger to the postseason. He has size and skating ability.

Jalen Chatfield had a good season. He can look for his shot when the Canes have opponents pinned in. Tony DeAngelo is a smaller offensive defenseman who likes to take chances. He can be exposed. The Canes are still without Brett Pesce. He’ll miss the first two games. If he returns, that would be a huge plus.

Adam Fox leads the way for the Rangers. He’s playing banged up after a collision with Nick Jensen in Game 4. He had two assists in Round 1. It was his defense that stood out. He played with more physicality.  Ryan Lindgren remains the perfect sidekick.

K’Andre Miller is coming off a strong series. He was much more aggressive and took the body. He had one of the Rangers’ two shorthanded goals. Braden Schneider remains partnered with Miller. He was just okay versus the Caps. He’ll have to be better this round.

Jacob Trouba plays like a warrior. He will hit and block shots for the cause. For a player who can’t be close to 100 percent, the captain was quite effective in the first round. He added two assists. Trouba is a key penalty killer. Erik Gustafsson was better than expected. He had two assists and didn’t make too many glaring mistakes. He’ll be under more duress against the Canes. Zac Jones remains a good insurance policy if they need to make a change.

Edge: Even

GOALIES: Frederik Andersen was very good for the Canes in the first round. He made the big saves when they needed it most. A veteran goalie who hasn’t always been healthy, he has something to prove.

Igor Shesterkin remains one of the game’s best netminders. Following a great second half, he continued to roll in the opening round. The Canes will present a much better challenge. Shesterkin might need to be the best player in the series for the Rangers to advance.

Edge: Rangers

COACHES: Rod Brind’Amour versus Peter Laviolette. The Hurricanes feature the former captain who led them to a Cup in 2005-06 under Laviolette. It’s a fascinating matchup.

Don’t expect either to get outfoxed. Laviolette loves getting his matchups. He will try to take advantage of getting the last change on home ice. Brind’Amour also will match up. But he has a bit more trust in his depth than Laviolette.

It sets up to be a chess match.

Edge: Even

SPECIAL TEAMS: Both teams are good in this area. They were nearly dead even on the power play in the first round. The Rangers went 6 for 16 (37.5) while the Hurt went 5 for 15 (33.3). The Rangers probably have bigger weapons due to Panarin, Zibanejad, Kreider, Fox, and Trocheck.

But the Canes have plenty of balance. Five different players had one power-play goal. Guentzel didn’t have any. Neither did Aho or Burns.

The penalty kill favors the Rangers. They went 15 for 17 (88.2) while scoring two shorthanded goals. Zibanejad and Kreider are threats. Trocheck and Goodrow are smart, defensive forwards who can come the other way. Lindgren, Fox, Miller, and Trouba are the defensemen.

The Canes went 8 for 11 (72.7). They didn’t take many penalties due to their superior play at even strength. Staal and Aho are key centers along with Jarvis, Teravainen, Drury, and Martinook. Slavin will see a lot of time along with Burns, Skjei, and Orlov.

Edge: Rangers

FACEOFFS: The Rangers are one of the best faceoff teams in the league. Led by Trocheck, they won 55.5 percent in the first round. He’ll be leaned on heavily. Zibanejad went 49.0 percent, and Goodrow won 45.8. Wennberg won 40.6.

The Hurricanes were just over 50 percent. Staal does the heavy-lifting. He won 56.7 of draws. Aho won only 44.4. Kuznetsov went 53.2. Kotkaniemi won 48.7.

Whoever can win the faceoffs will dictate the action.

Edge: Rangers

INTANGIBLES: The Hurricanes are considered the betting favorite in the series. But they’ll go in with an underdog mentality. That can bode well. Most of the pressure is on the Rangers. But both teams know there won’t be a lot more chances to win a championship. That’s what makes this matchup so fascinating.

Edge: Even

ANALYSIS: These teams are very evenly matched. The Canes are the better puck possession team. They want to wear down opponents with their aggressive attack. With an improved power play, offense shouldn’t be a problem.

The Rangers must do a good job winning puck battles. They can’t make some of the sloppy mistakes they did in the first round. The Canes are a much faster team who feeds off transition. The Rangers are similar. In some aspects, they’re mirror images.

There should be a lot more physicality. Expect plenty of battles. It should be hotly contested.

Home ice could matter. This shapes up to be a long series.

PREDICTION: Rangers in 7