First Period:
Second Period:
- Jacob Trouba (1) (Shorthanded) Unassisted
Third Period:
- Jordan Staal (1) Assists: Dmitry Orlov (3)
- Evgeny Kuznetsov (4) Assists: Brady Skjei (8), Jesperi Kotkaniemi (1)
- Jordan Martinook (2) Assists: Jack Drury (3), Martin Necas (5)
- Martin Necas (3) (Empty Net) Unassisted
Stats:
Adam Rotter:
- They were only up 1-0 and it was going to be really hard to win this game 1-0, but it sure felt like they were going to find a way to win. Igor Shesterkin was playing great, they were blocking passes and shots and it just felt like the Rangers had the momentum and Carolina was frustrated. But they got flat-footed a couple of times, didn’t tie guys up and what seemed like a pretty good shot at their next game being Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals is now Game 6 on Thursday in Carolina.
- They just collapsed defensively in the third period. Carolina had the puck for most of the night, but they weren’t getting anything, and then the third period turned into the First Period of Game 4. Mistakes ended up in their net and Igor Shesterkin had little chance on any of the goals.
- Offensively the Rangers didn’t generate nearly enough. Their best chances seemed to come from the Will Cuylle, Alex Wennberg, Kaapo Kakko line. The top-six had isolated chances, but nothing close to what was needed.
- The PP has gone cold and with it the Rangers best players. Artemi Panarin’s game has fallen off, Adam Fox is clearly banged up after that collision in Game 4 against the Caps and collectively they’ve looked out of sync. The Rangers were winning in the playoffs because Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck were producing. That hasn’t been the case the last two games and they will lose this series if that doesn’t change.
- Once Jacob Trouba scored, the Hurricanes understandably ratcheted up the intensity and desperation and the Rangers wouldn’t or couldn’t match it. I felt like it was pretty even and back and forth in the first period, but then the Rangers seemed to be playing a “bend but don’t break” strategy, intentionally or not, but it broke in the third period. Carolina was quicker to pucks, they won more battles. and more than deserved to win the game. I don’t know if the Rangers were just happy to play at half-speed because Igor Shesterkin didn’t seem like he was going to allow a goal, but it wasn’t enough and now the pressure is on them.
- I thought it was a nice bit of gamesmanship for Peter Laviolette to have Jonny Brodzinski skate on the fourth line at the morning skate and then dress Matt Rempe instead. Rempe didn’t do much, but if Peter Laviolette is going to cut the bench anyway, Rempe and the energy he bring at home is the better choice. Now that they are going back to Carolina, I wonder if they try and pull the Filip Chytil card out again.
- And now we head to Game 6 and while the Rangers remain one win away from the Conference Finals, they seem very far away and the possibility of an epic collapse, the same kind of thing that Peter Laviolette and the Flyers did to the Bruins in 2010, has entered the conversation.
- The fact that the series is going to Game 6 isn’t surprising, but how we’ve gotten to 3-2 and how the Rangers have played for a lot of this series does not leave you with a lot of confidence. The feeling or vibe of this series being 3-2 Rangers is much different with the Rangers having been up 3-0 as opposed to if they alternated wins or had just lost one game before going up 3-0. They can certainly still win this series, they only need one win and Carolina needs two, but they need to find another level or all the promise that the season and first seven games seemed to present will be flushed down the toilet.