New York Rangers centre Mika Zibanejad waves to fans following Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Rangers won 4-3 in overtime on May 7, 2024, in New York.Julia Nikhinson/The Associated Press
Vincent Trocheck scored a power-play goal off a rebound at 7:24 of the second overtime to give the New York Rangers a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night and a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.
Alexis Lafreniere scored twice, Chris Kreider also had a power-play goal and Artemi Panarin added two assists for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin stopped a season-high 54 shots.
The Rangers won their sixth straight in the post-season, and eighth straight dating to the regular season. New York got its first overtime playoff win since in Game 7 of the first round in 2022 against Pittsburgh.
Jake Guentzel scored twice, Dmitry Orlov also scored and Sebastian Aho had three assists for the Hurricanes. Frederik Andersen finished with 35 saves.
The Hurricanes have lost three of their last four – including two in double-overtime after winning the first three games of the first round. The Hurricanes have lost four straight overtime playoff games, including two against Florida in the conference finals a year ago.
The series shifts to Raleigh, North Carolina, for the next two games, with Game 3 on Thursday night.
Shesterkin made a kick save on Martin Necas 1 1/2 minutes into the second overtime and a pad save on Jordan Staal in close about 30 seconds later. At the other end, Andersen made a stellar save on a shot by Panarin.
The Hurricanes, who finished 0 for 5 on the power play, got an advantage when Panarin was called for hooking at 3:28. They managed just one shot.
The Rangers then got their seventh power play of the night and Trocheck scored in front off rebound to extend his goal-scoring streak to five games.
Shesterkin made nice saves on attempts by Aho and Jaccob Slavin during a Hurricanes power play near midway through the first overtime.
Mika Zibanejad got in alone on Andersen, but his try was smothered by the goalie with 8:15 left. Lafreniere was denied on a point-blank try with about 2 minutes remaining, and Zibanejad was stopped by Andersen on a 2-on-1 rush in the final minute of the first overtime period.
Kreider tied it 3-3 at 6:07 of the third period with the Rangers’ third power-play goal of the series against a Hurricanes team that had the league’s best penalty-kill during the season.
Trocheck got a pass from Panarin in front, and Andersen made a kick save on his attempt. However, Kreider knocked the loose puck from the left side while the goalie was down for his first of the series and third of the post-season. It was also Kreider’s 43rd career post-season goal – most in franchise history – and 70th point – third-most behind Brian Leetch (89) and Mark Messier (80).
The Rangers got another power play when Jordan Martinook was sent off for tripping at 9:54. They managed two shots on goal during the advantage, but the Hurricanes had an excellent short-handed scoring chance when Shesterkin denied an attempt by Brady Skjei.
Shesterkin also knocked down a try by Skjei with just over five minutes remaining, and then denied his attempt on the rebound.
The Rangers got their sixth power play of the night when Skjei was called for tripping with 1:38 remaining. However, the Hurricanes had the best chances as Shesterkin made a nice save on Seth Jarvis on a short-handed, odd-man rush. Then, the goalie – who had 17 saves in the third period – denied a shot by Aho and a rebound try by Jalen Chatfield.
Trailing 2-1 after 20 minutes, the Rangers tied it at 7:32 of the second as Lafreniere redirected a pass in front from Adam Fox for his second of the game. With the Hurricanes on a power play, Shesterkin gloved a point shot by Brent Burns at 9:04 to keep it tied.
Guentzel gave the Hurricanes their second lead of the night with a one-timer in the slot off a pass from Aho from the left corner with 1:42 remaining in the middle period. It was Guentzel’s second of the night and gave Aho five assists through two games in the series.
Lafreniere got a pass from K’Andre Miller and fired a shot into the top left corner from the left circle to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead with 9:07 left in the opening period.
The Hurricanes tied it with 4:53 remaining in the first as Guentzel tipped a one-timer by Aho through traffic for his second of the playoffs.
The teams were skating four on four after the Rangers’ Barclay Goodrow and the Hurricanes’ Stefan Noesen were whistled for penalties in the final minute of the opening period. The Hurricanes took advantage of the open ice as Orlov tipped Brady Skjei’s point shot past Shesterkin with 5.4 seconds left to take the lead.