Canes lose Game 2 against Rangers in double overtime

By WRAL

Carolina Hurricanes	3
New York Rangers	4
F/OT

New York — The Carolina Hurricanes in another tight back and forth against the New York Rangers lose in double overtime, 4-3 the final. The Canes trail the Rangers 2-0 in the second round Stanley Cup Playoff series.

The Rangers found the back of the net first, a shot to the left corner by Alexis Lafreniere assisted by K'Andre Miller and Alex Wennberg. New York leads 1-0 in the first period and is outscoring the Canes 4-1 in the first period this series.

While the Canes failed to score on a power play early in this one, they had their first successful penalty kill of the series after Andre Svechnikov was called for tripping against Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin.

With just under five minutes remaining in the first period, we have a Canes goal. Sebastian Aho rips a one-timer into the crease and Jake Guentzel was there for the re-direct past Shesterkin. It's Guentzel's second goal of the postseason and the fourth and fifth assists for Sebasitan Aho and Svechnikov respectively, a 1-1 tie.

And then with just eight seconds left in the first period during a 4-on-4 stretch, Brady Skjei rifled the puck toward the net and Dmitry Orlov tipped it for the goal. It's Orlov's second goal of the postseason as well as the sixth assist for Skjei and the second assist of the game for Aho, Canes go into the first intermission up 2-1.

The Canes held onto the 2-1 lead for most of the second period, but the Rangers tied it up at 2 apiece. Lafreniere scored with 12:28 remaining for the second time this postseason and this game, with assists from Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin.

Sebastian Aho hasn't scored since April 25, but his ability to find his teammate has been outstanding. With 1:42 remaining in the second period, he looked over his shoulder and fired a pass to a cutting Guentzel, who found the net with a one-timer to give the Canes a 3-2 lead. Aho now has three assists in this game, five assists in just two games this series.

In the third period, the penalty kill came back to bite the Canes again. The power play situation has been odd, with a few last just seconds, the Rangers capitalize off a Orlov tripping call, with Chris Kreider scoring less than a minute into the advantage, tying the game 3-3. Vincent Trocheck and Panarin register with the assists.

Another penalty with 1:38 remaining in the third period put the Rangers into a power play for the remainder of regulation. Canes ended regulation with four penalties in a row, but nearly scored short-handed: Carolina had three shots on goal in those final 1:38, but Igor Shesterkin was a wall, 17 saves in the third period. Shesterkin finished regulation with a .929 save percentage on 42 shot attempts. We go to overtime with the teams tied 3-3.

In overtime, have been a flurry of opportunities for both teams, but the Canes had the best chance after Jacob Trouba picked up a tripping penalty, giving the Canes a power play with 12:03 remaining. A few great opportunities there, but Shesterkin remains a wall, 45 saves on 48 shots on goal.

Frederick Andersen put the team on his pads in the overtime period as well, he has a .917 save percentage on 37 shots on goal, including a few close range opportunities from the Rangers. With that in mind, this game heads to double overtime, 3-3. According to the NHL, the Rangers are 8-14 all-time in playoff games that require multiple overtimes, while the Canes are 1-9.

More good penalty news for the Canes in overtime, Panarin is called for hooking with less than four minutes into the second overtime. The Canes have a chance for its first power play goal in the series. They wouldn't find the net, but for the second time in the game and the fourth time in the series, the Rangers did: former Carolina Hurricane Vincent Trocheck scored the game winning goal on a power play nearly eight minutes into the second overtime, Rangers win 4-3.

Preview

The Carolina Hurricanes trail in a series for the first time this postseason – and it was their special teams that put them in this position.

The difference in Sunday's 4-3 loss to the New York Rangers in Game 1 of their best-of-seven series was illustrated by the special teams efforts by each team.

The Rangers scored on both power plays they drew and killed five penalties, dominating when it wasn't 5-on-5. New York scored The Canes scored zero power play goals in 12 minutes of penalty time.

The Hurricanes had the second-best power play in the NHL during the regular season and the top penalty-killing unit. That was nowhere to be seen in Game 1, which looked like a continuation of the 2022 second-round series where the Canes dropped all three games played in New York.

Game 2 is 7 p.m. Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

"We had our looks," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said on Monday. "We just didn't convert and that's the difference. We got to find a way to get more looks, and that's easy. You'd like to have more opportunities when you get your power plays.

"They did a nice job blocking shots and they did pressure us at the right times. And the execution wasn't quite where it needed to be, but again, that's the nature of the game."

Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen stopped 19 shots, but allowed a back-breaking fourth goal in the third period. It was uncharacteristic of his play in Carolina's 4-1 series victory in the first round against the New York Islanders. Artemi Panarin's goal made it 4-2 with 8:21 left to play.

Through much of the game, the Hurricanes trailed in shots on goal and appeared timid at times while in the offensive zone. Carolina finished with 25 shots, its lowest total of the postseason.

Carolina was whistled for numerous offensive zone penalties, including a tripping call on Andrei Svechnikov that erased a 6-on-4 advantage in the final minute and diminished the Canes' chances of completing a rally.

"At the end of the day, they made three high-end plays," Brind'Amour said. "Generally, you usually tip your hat. They know exactly what we were trying to do. We also know that too and we just were a tad late."

Mika Zibanejad, who scored twice Sunday, has an 11-game point streak, including the regular season, with five goals and 13 assists in the stretch. Zibanejad scored off a no-look, behind-the-back pass from Chris Kreider to give the Rangers the lead for keeps at 2-1 halfway through the first period.

Carolina Hurricanes - New York Rangers Eastern Conference Semifinal schedule

• Game 1: Sunday, May 5 - Rangers 4, Hurricanes 3
• Game 2: Tuesday, May 7 - 7 p.m., Madison Square Garden
• Game 3: Thursday, May 9 - 7 p.m., PNC Arena
• Game 4: Saturday, May 11 - 7 p.m., PNC Arena
• Game 5: Monday, May 13, TBA, Madison Square Garden
• Game 6: Thursday, May 16, TBA, PNC Arena
• Game 7: Saturday, May 18, TBA, Madison Square Garden