NEW YORK (AP) – The New York Rangers got off to a good start and didn’t need a comeback to win another elimination game.
One more like this and they will go to the final of the Eastern Conference.
Igor Shesterkin stopped 37 shots and became the fifth goalie in NHL history to have two assists in a playoff game, and the Rangers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 Saturday night to force a Decisive match 7 in its second round series.
“He made some key stops for us,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “Obviously the two assists are huge, but I think he was trying to get three in the third when he went through the middle. He’s exceptional. He’s been like that all year for us.”
Tyler Motte and Mika Zibanejad scored in the first period, Filip Chytil scored two goals in the second and Artemi Panarin scored in the third period to help New York win its fourth straight playoff game, including Games 5, 6 and 7 in the first. round against Pittsburgh. They had to bounce back from a deficit in each of those games.
The Rangers also set a franchise record with their sixth straight home win since a three-OT loss to the Penguins in Game 1 of this series.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Gallant said. “I knew we would come out strong and play well. … We skipped them early, we scored a couple of goals and that was key ”.
Game 7 returns to Raleigh, North Carolina, Monday night. The winner will open the Eastern Conference Finals at home against Tampa Bay on Wednesday night.
Shesterkin had assists in Zibanejad’s first period goal and Chytil’s second in the second period to give him three assists in 13 postseason games.
“Tonight was definitely an important match,” Shesterkin said through a translator. “We had to win and that’s exactly what we did. On the two assists, honestly, I think it was mostly the guys who did all the work. I just received the record and they gave it to me. “
Brady Skjei scored a goal and an assist, and Vincent Trochek also scored for the Hurricanes. Carolina fell to 0-6 on the road this postseason, becoming the first team in NHL history to lose its first six road games in a postseason.
Antti Raanta retired after conceding three goals in 13 shots. Pyotr Kochetkov came in and finished with 10 stops.
There’s a positive for the Hurricanes, and maybe a bad omen for the Rangers, with Game 7 in Carolina – they’re 7-0 at home in those playoffs.
“We came out pretty raw again,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It simply came to our notice then. … Now we are left behind, we turn the page. The good news is that we don’t have to end this. We have another chance here. “
The Rangers’ victory in the sixth game against the Penguins is their only road victory of the postseason, and they have been beaten in all three defeats against Carolina in this series by a 7-2 margin. This is in stark contrast to their 12-4 lead in all three home wins.
“We have to play the way we play at home,” Chytil said. “We’ve found a way to win in Pittsburgh. So now it’s a Game 7, so we have to find a way to win the game. … We have to play hard, we have to play our game and not focus “Just focus on the game and I think we can win the game.”
Leading 4-2, the Rangers had a 5-on-3 power play for nearly a minute at the start of the third period. Panarin made it 5-2 when he scored from between the circles at 7:43. It was his fourth of the postseason and the first since winning the series in overtime in Game 7 of the first round against Pittsburgh.
The Rangers led 2-0 after 20 minutes and added early in the second period. Chytil got Fox’s puck, skated on the right side and beat Raanta from the right circle. Raanta’s night ended when he was replaced by Kochetkov.
Skjei fired a shot past Shesterkin for his fifth playoff goal of his career and the first this year to get the Hurricanes to the scoreboard at 5:05. He arrived at Carolina’s 18th shot.
Chytil scored the second of the night and the fourth of the postseason in a setback ahead of Kochetkov through traffic from the left circle at 6:47 to restore the Rangers’ three-goal lead.
Trochek scored on a 7:13 lead at the end of the half to take Carolina 4-2.
Shesterkin denied Sebastian Aho a breakaway at 7:05 of the start of the match, then stopped shots by Teuvo Teravainen and Aho seconds later to keep the Hurricanes off the scoreboard.
At the other end, Motte gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead as he brought the puck to the ice, skated and beat Raanta from the left circle at 7:22 for his second of the playoffs, and this series.
Zibanejad extended the Rangers’ lead to 2-0 just minutes from the middle of the period. He received a pass from Adam Fox, brought the puck across the blue line, left a defender out of the way, skated and fired a shot from the right circle through Raanta’s five hole at 9: 51 for his seventh postseason.
He gave the Rangers a power goal for the fourth straight game, making it to the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
ALIGNMENTS
F Barclay Goodrow returned to the Rangers lineup for the first time since the first game of the first round series against Pittsburgh. He came out with an injury to his lower body. Kevin Rooney was struck out to make way for Goodrow in the fourth row.