*Photo from ABC News*
Carolina leads series 2-1
They needed a win to get back in the series, and that's what they did. Chris Kreider scored a goal, Mika Zibanejad tallied a goal and an assist, and the New York Rangers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes with a 3-1 victory on Sunday afternoon in Manhattan.
Needing a win after losing two straight games on the road, the Rangers took the home ice momentum and rode it to the win they needed, trailing in the series 2-1 instead of 3-0. Zibanejad led the way with his goal and assist night, and they also got some great goaltending to get back in the series.
That great goaltending came from none other than Igor Shesterkin. Picking up his first win of the series, Shesterkin stopped all but one of the 44 shots that the Hurricanes sent at him, good for a .977 save percentage in the victory.
New York forward Filip Chytil said after the game that "I think we played, finally, 60 minutes. In the first two periods, we played how we wanted to play. In the third period, we didn't back off like the first game and I think the win was deserved."
The only goal of the first period came from Zibanejad, who scored a power play goal 11:54 into the game, his 4th goal of the playoffs, with assists from Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox. In the second period, Kreider scored his 6th goal of the playoffs 5:55 into the period, with assists from Zibanejad and Jacob Trouba.
Later in the second period, Nino Niederreiter got the Hurricanes on the board, cutting the deficit to 2-1 with his 4th goal of the playoffs, assisted by Brendan Smith and Jordan Staal 8:18 into the second. In the 3rd period, Tyler Motte scored his first goal of the playoffs, scoring on an empty net with 1:23 left in regulation, sealing the 3-1 victory.
New York head coach Gerard Gallant said after the game that "We felt like we were going to win the hockey game tonight. Our goalie was outstanding in the first half of the game. Made some big, key saves for us, but I thought we played well enough to win."
For the Hurricanes, Antti Raanta got the start once again with Frederik Andersen still injured. Raanta also had himself a great game, turning aside 30 out of the 32 shots on goal that he faced from the Rangers, recording a .938 save percentage in the loss.
Carolina head coach Rod Brind'Amour said of the loss that "Games all kind of stink if you don't win it, but I think overall we definitely had our opportunities to win the game. I would take that game most nights to be quite honest with you. I'm assuming we had pretty good opportunities, Grade-A's. We didn't capitalize on the power play, we needed to, and they did."
Up next, game 4 of the series is back in New York City on Tuesday night. There, the Rangers will look to even the series and force a game 6 in the series, while the Hurricanes aim to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.
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