*Photo from AM New York*
New York wins series 4-3
We got a stunner for a game 7 everyone. Chris Kreider delivered two goals, Mika Zibanejad dished out 3 assists, and the New York Rangers rolled past the Carolina Hurricanes with a 6-2 victory on Monday night in Raleigh.
Trailing in the series 3-2 entering game 6 at home, the Rangers did what had to be done there to win and force game 7 on the road. It was a daunting task, but thanks to stellar performances from Kreider and Zibanejad, they were able to get the first win by an opposing team in Raleigh all postseason.
Kreider said of the team's win that "I think that's how you win in the playoffs. It's a team game, you need 20 guys pulling in the right direction, and we had that tonight. Obviously, having a good start helped, and I think special teams came through for us tonight in a pretty big spot, and our goaltender was once again our best player."
On the power play 3:40 into the game, Adam Fox started the scoring for the Rangers, giving them a 1-0 lead on his 5th goal of the playoffs, assisted by Alexis Lafreniere and Andrew Copp. Later in the opening period, Kreider added a power play goal of his own, making it 2-0 after one period with assists from Fox and Zibanejad. Ryan Strome scored the only goal of the second period to make it a 3-0 game.
In the 3rd period, Kreider got on the board again, with his second goal of the night making it a 4-0 lead for the Rangers. Vincent Trocheck got the Hurricanes on the board with a power play goal to cut it to 4-1. The teams then alternated goals, with Filip Chytil and Copp scoring for the Rangers, and Brady Skjei tallying one for the Hurricanes.
Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant said of Kreider's goal that "That goal was a beautiful goal, the breakaway goal. He played hard and competed hard. I thought all our guys were good tonight. They played probably their best game of the series, obviously, and if we were going to win tonight, we had to play our best game of the series."
It was Igor Shesterkin who started and got the win for the Rangers, winning his second straight game to even the series. Shesterkin stopped 37 of the 39 shots that the Hurricanes sent at him, posting a .949 save percentage.
For the Hurricanes, Antti Raanta was back in net for the start. Raanta saved 16 of the 19 shots he faced, before leaving injured. Pyotr Kochetkov came on, stopping 9 out of the 12 shots that the Rangers sent towards him, recording a .750 save percentage in the loss.
Carolina captain Jordan Staal said that "Anything can happen in Game 7, and obviously we're on the wrong side this time. Did we want to get to Game 7? No. We had to find a way to sneak one on the road, which we didn't. Tonight was just some bounces, and everyone wasn't quite there, including myself, and unfortunately we ended the season."
Up next, the Rangers move on to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, with game one on Wednesday night. The Hurricanes head home for the summer, raring to go for next year.
Comments
Post a Comment