Game 3 of the second-round series between the New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes took place on Thursday night. In his first playoff game in Raleigh since winning the Stanley Cup with Carolina back in 2006, Peter Laviolette’s Rangers squad was looking to secure a seventh playoff win in a row. Games 1 and 2 could have gone either way, as they both ended with a one-goal difference, including a double overtime. Game 3 was close again.
For Carolina, Rod Brind’Amour turned to Pyotr Kochetkov to keep the net. This was to give a rest to Frederik Andersen who has played a lot recently. Here is a period-by-period breakdown of the third game between the Rangers and Hurricanes.
A Feisty First Period
The first period was pretty tense, filled with scrums and physical play. Eleven minutes into the game, an unlikely fight between Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jimmy Vesey occurred after a net-front conflict. The first goal of the game belonged to Jake Guentzel. A deflection from the slot, off of a Dimitri Orlov shot from the point. The Hurricanes generated more chances offensively than the Rangers in the first. It ended with Kochetkov making a great save on Lafrenière, to end his first period of the playoffs.
Second Period
In the second period, New York scored during a Carolina powerplay. The play started in the Rangers’ zone, as Mika Zibanejad intercepted Andrei Svechnikov’s bank pass to the point. This led to a two-on-one with Chris Kreider. The latter received a pass from Zibanejad and tipped the puck from his backhand between Kochetkov’s legs. Both players remain successful on the penalty kill as they join forces again shorthanded.
Zibanejad’s assist puts him first in franchise history for points after the first seven playoff games. This oddly specific statistic shows how valuable this player is to the Rangers. Consistency during the season has been difficult for Zibanejad overall, but he stays excellent on special teams and all-around play. New York took a penalty a few minutes after Kreider’s goal. They almost scored again on a two-on-one while killing a penalty, but they hit the post.
Both teams took many penalties in the first 40 minutes of play. It felt like 2 Unlimited’s °Twilight Zone°, the Hurricane’s powerplay song played all the time. Unfortunately for Carolina, in 14 powerplay attempts this series, they haven’t scored once.
Third Period
Six minutes into the third, Alexis Lafrenière scored. The goal happened off a set play from a neutral zone faceoff. Vincent Trocheck won the draw and sent it to Braden Schneider. Trocheck accepted a pass back from his defenseman and absorbed a hit from Sebastian Aho. He then slipped the puck for Artemi Panarin who entered the zone with Lafrenière. New York’s first-overall pick scored off a beautiful backhand pass from Panarin as he one-timed the puck top shelf. This put the Rangers up by one. The Trocheck line stayed hot, as he has a point in every playoff game so far.
At the third intermission, on the TNT panel, legendary goaltender Henrik Lundqvist mentioned Kochetkov was a bit too far out of his net on Lafrenière’s goal. This caused it to be harder to make the cross-crease save. Otherwise, the Carolina goaltender was playing great. He stopped breakaway attempts from Panarin, Trocheck, Kreider, and Filip Chytil, who played his first game since November.
The Hurricanes finally solved Igor Shesterkin at the very end of the period, after pulling the goaltender. They score off a rebound shot from the point, that Andrei Svechnikov was able to clean up. The game would go to overtime for the second time in a row.
OVERTIME
The Rangers ended the game early in sudden death. In the first minutes of overtime, the more defensive-minded Justin Chatfield was in a position where he had to lead the rush. The Rangers’ defense blocked the shot attempt that came out of this play and counter-attacked easily. As Chatfield was the last man backchecking from the previous play, Lafrenière easily broke into the Hurricanes’ zone and shot wide. Carolina’s defense chipped the puck out only to have it dumped back in by Lafrenière right away.
Orlov tried to corral the puck, but it trickled onto Trocheck’s stick. He found Panarin passing near the net and fed him a slap pass. The Russian winger deflected it perfectly between his legs into the net.
The Rangers remain undefeated in this post-season, as they could sweep both opponents in the first two rounds. Not since their last Stanley Cup win have they gone for seven wins in a row to start the playoffs. Shesterkin shows to be the real deal, with 45 saves in Game Three. He is the backbone of the team. If this team can stay healthy, it could feel like 1994 all over again.
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