Rangers can’t hold 3rd-period lead against Hurricanes, lose 4th in row
The New York Rangers failed to hold a third-period lead and lost their fourth straight game, falling 4-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center in Raleigh on Wednesday night in their first meeting since the Rangers eliminated the ‘Canes in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring.
Second-period goals by Brett Berard and Adam Edstrom put the Rangers in front 3-2 entering the final 20 minutes. But the Hurricanes dominated the third period and got goals from Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jackson Blake in a span of 2:07 to turn a one-goal deficit into a one-goal advantage.
“I think we were in a good spot going into the third,” Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said postgame. “It just got away from us.”
The win, combined with the New Jersey Devils’ 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues, moved Carolina (16-5-1) into first place in the Metropolitan Division. The Hurricanes have won nine in a row at home after losing their season-opener to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 11.
Jack Drury had a goal and an assist for the ’Canes, who got 21 saves from their No. 3 goalie, Spencer Martin, who’s manning the net in the absence of injured regulars Frederik Andersen (knee surgery) and Pyotr Kochetkov, who’s in concussion protocol after being injured against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
The Rangers (12-8-1) weren’t bombarded as they had been in losses to the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and the Blues, when they allowed at least 40 shots on goal in each defeat. Carolina finished with 30 shots against Igor Shesterkin, who made 26 saves. But the shot attempts were 68-45 in favor of the Hurricanes, who controlled most of the third period.
“We’re going through a little bit of adversity as a group,” Trouba said. “Everybody knows it’s probably a better effort for us, but there’s not really any moral victories at this level. We’ve got to keep grinding, keep putting the work in and turn this thing around as a group.”
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Carolina Hurricanes 4 – New York Rangers 3
Carolina, which entered the night first in the NHL with an average of 33.7 shots on goal, came out firing. William Carrier nearly beat Shesterkin with a backhander less than 30 seconds into the game, and Sebastian Aho’s deflection before the one-minute mark forced the Rangers goaltender to make another excellent stop.
The Hurricanes kept coming, and Drury, the nephew of Rangers general manager Chris Drury, got Carolina on the board at 4:53, finishing a play he started by winning an offensive-zone draw. Drury drifted below the left circle, took a pass from Martin Necas and snapped a bad-angled shot that went into the net off Shesterkin’s face mask for a 1-0 lead.
The ‘Canes continued to dominate play for the next few minutes; at one point, they had outshot the Rangers 6-1. But New York regrouped as the period went on and tied the game 1-1 at 17:38 when Jonny Brodzinski drifted to the hash marks between the circles, took a feed from behind the net by Jimmy Vesey and beat Martin over the glove with a quick wrist shot for his second goal of the season.
The teams ended up with 12 shots apiece in the first period as the Rangers began to play a game more suited to their tempo.
However, a holding penalty against Will Cuylle with 48 seconds left in the first period came back to bite the Rangers 1:13 into the second. Necas, who entered the night tied with Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon for the NHL scoring lead, earned his second assist of the night with a brilliant pass from just above the goal line to Seth Jarvis at Shesterkin’s right post. Jarvis converted for a 2-1 lead.
The Rangers got even again at 9:13 on the first NHL goal by Berard. A bad pinch by Carolina defenseman Kevin Chatfield sent the Rangers racing back on a 2-on-1 break. The rookie forward, playing his second NHL game, carried the puck into the left circle, called his own number and sizzled a wrister past Martin to make it 2-2.
Shesterkin kept the game tied less than two minutes later when he made a diving pad save to foil Carrier, who appeared to have a wide-open net.
The Rangers capitalized on another mistake by a Carolina defenseman to take their first lead of the night at 18:49. Dmitry Orlov couldn’t control a back pass at the left point, Reilly Smith won a race to the puck and backhanded a pass to the middle that caught a wide-open Edstrom in stride. Edstrom blew a quick shot past Martin for his second of the season, sending the Rangers into the dressing room after two periods with a 3-2 lead.
Trouba nearly made it a two-goal lead for the Rangers near the six-minute mark of the third period when his shot beat Martin but hit the crossbar.
Kotkaniemi then used his size to tie the game at 9:54. The 6-foot-3 center controlled the puck behind the Rangers net, came out to Shesterkin’s left and surprised him with a quick wraparound that went through the goaltender’s legs.
The sellout crowd was roaring when Vincent Trocheck was called for hooking at 10:30, and got even louder when Blake came late, got free between the circles and rifled Drury’s perfect feed past Shesterkin at 12:01 to put Carolina in front for good. The Rangers managed little offense the rest of the way despite pulling Shesterkin with 2:18 remaining.
“During the third, they capitalized, they got the power play they scored on,” defenseman Ryan Lindgren said. “It’s a good team over there. There was a battle all night and they were able to find a couple in the third.”
The Rangers begin a back-to-back set with a game Friday afternoon in Philadelphia against the Flyers before returning home to host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
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