Vincent Trocheck scored a power-play goal with 12:36 left in the second overtime and Alexis Lafrenière had two goals in regulation as the Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-3, Tuesday night. The victory gave the Rangers a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven second-round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Chris Kreider had a key goal in the third period to tie the score at three. Igor Shesterkin made 54 saves against a relentless Carolina attack.
Jake Guentzel, one of the prizes of the NHL’s trade deadline, scored twice for the Hurricanes, who face a crucial Game 3 at home on Thursday.
Here are the takeaways
-Both goaltenders were terrific, especially Shesterkin, who made multiple high-danger saves through the night as Carolina got back to its high-shot-volume credo on offense. Toward the end of regulation, when Carolina got pressure while shorthanded, Shesterkin made several quality saves. At one point, he sprawled to make a save and the puck was left in the crease for a moment before a defender cleared it. The Canes outshot the Rangers, 17-9, in the third period. In the first OT, he made a huge save on Sebastian Aho in front early and a few minutes later sprawled to stop Aho again.
Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen made 35 saves and denied a couple of good chances in the first OT, including one on Mika Zibanejad.
-The Rangers’ penalty-kill unit was tremendous once again, holding the Canes without a goal in five power plays. The Rangers are 10-for-10 on the PK in the series’ first two games.
-New York took a 1-0 lead with 9:07 left in the first period on Lafrenière’s first goal of these playoffs, a shot from Andersen’s left. K’Andre Miller and Alex Wennberg were credited with assists. But that lead was gone by the end of the period.
-Guentzel tied the score with his second goal of the playoffs, a tip-in off assists from Aho and Andrei Svechnikov with 4:53 remaining in the first. The Canes then took the lead with just 5.4 seconds left in the first period, scoring when the teams were playing 4-on-4 because of penalties to both Barclay Goodrow and Stefan Noesen. Dmitry Orlov tipped a shot by Brady Skjei past Shesterkin. Aho was credited with an assist on the goal, too.
-At one point in the first, Svechnikov knocked over Shesterkin behind the Rangers’ net and was whistled for a penalty. Every Ranger on the ice at the time was angered by the play and went to confront Svechnikov, setting off a scrum near the boards. Shesterkin, clearly mad, skated over to the group. The refs reviewed the play to check its severity, but only issued a minor penalty. The Rangers could not score on the ensuing power play, but created one terrific chance – Kreider passed to Zibanejad on the doorstep, but Andersen stopped the shot.
-In a physical second period, both teams had flurries of pressure and they traded goals. Lafrenière scored for the second time with 12:28 left in the period, a tally set up by a terrific pass from Adam Fox. Fox skated down the right side and held the puck for a couple extra beats before zipping a pass to Lafrenière, who was camped out on Andersen’s right. But Carolina again got a late goal, scoring with 1:42 left in the second when Aho delivered a crisp pass in front to Guentzel, who shot the puck between Shesterkin’s legs. The goal gave the Canes a 3-2 lead.
-With 13:53 remaining in the third, the Rangers knotted the score at 3 on a power-play goal by Kreider, who batted in a rebound of a shot by Trocheck. Andersen flopped to his back to try to stop Kreider, but Kreider was too quick.
-The Hurricanes had a curious healthy scratch – forward Evgeny Kuznetsov, who they acquired from Washington around the trade deadline. Kuznetsov, who had two goals and four points in Carolina’s previous six playoff games, was out for 25-year-old Max Comtois, who was making his playoff debut. Comtois played in one regular-season game for Carolina.
Game MVP
Trocheck, for his game-winning goal in the second overtime. He’s scored a goal in five consecutive playoff games, matching the longest streak in Ranger history. Cecil Dillon set the mark in 1933.
Highlights
What’s next
After taking the first two games at MSG, the series shifts to Carolina when the Rangers and Hurricanes take the ice for Game 3 on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Source Agencies
