First Period:
- Filip Chytil (2) Assists: Alexis Lafreniere (3)
Second Period:
Third Period:
- Sebastian Aho (3) Assists: Seth Jarvis (3), Teuvo Teravainen (6)
Overtime:
- Ian Cole (1) Assists: Jesperi Kotkaniemi (1), Brendan Smith (2)
Stats:
Adam Rotter:
- Well that was demoralizing and a big missed opportunity for the Rangers to grab the lead.
- This was two different games. The Rangers were playing their best hockey of the playoffs, and best in weeks, in the first two periods and then Carolina turned into Carolina and started to forecheck, push the pace and get pucks to the net. With the way Carolina was pushing it seemed inevitable that the Hurricanes would tie it and eventually they did.
- The Rangers were just on top of things in the first two periods. They were smart with the puck, got into passing lanes, blocked shots and caused a bunch of turnovers. Then the third period started and the Rangers were on their heels and it looked a lot like the regular season meetings between these two teams. Igor Shesterkin was keeping the Rangers in the lead and he made a terrific save on Aho’s drive to the net, but no one picked him up and he buried it.
- So the question is, did the Rangers force Carolina into their mistakes and struggles in the first two periods or was Carolina beating themselves by trying to be fancy and force plays? It’s probably a combination of the two, but once Carolina simplified their game and started to dump, chase and forecheck the Rangers had no answers and that was the concern heading into the series.
- A lot of people will point to Kaapo Kakko’s missed empty net and that was big, but Carolina had just hit the crossbar and they hit another post shortly after Kakko’s miss. Carolina was pushing and I’m not sure how many goals the Rangers were going to need to hold on. It’s a shame because Kakko was having another solid game.
- The Kid line was the Rangers best by far and the Rangers top players didn’t carry over how the Pittsburgh series ended. Alexis Lafreniere was really good and made the Rangers goal happen.
- If there had been a bit better coverage in front of the net we might be talking about how even though Carolina had their big push, Igor Shesterkin was there. He had no chance on either goal, the winner went off Ryan Lindgren’s stick, and he had a really easy first 40 minutes, but he was excellent in the third period.
- So the Rangers miss a big opportunity, show that they can play well, but also see the potential that Carolina can bring. We will see which versions of these teams show up on Friday for Game 2.