After one hour, twenty-seven and a half minutes of hockey, Vincent Trocheck finally scored the game-winning goal in double overtime to give the Rangers a 4-3 victory in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference second-round playoff series Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
Trocheck and the Rangers capitalized in the second OT session after ex-Ranger Brady Skjei was called for cross-checking.
“I don’t know. I’ll watch it and let you know tomorrow,” Trocheck said when asked to describe the winning goal. “Typically when those games go into overtime, double overtime, any team could win those games.”
Tuesday’s game was the longest NHL game of the 2024 postseason.
Rangers left winger Alexis Lafreniere tallied two goals as the Blueshirts took both games on home ice. Artemi Panarin chipped in two assists, including on Chris Kreider‘s power-play goal early in the third period, which tied the game at 3-3.
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin stopped a season-high 54 shots.
“Igor played an Igor-esque type game. He was outstanding, kept us in the game,” Trocheck said. “It’s tough to beat our team when he’s making saves like he was tonight.”
The Blueshirts won their sixth consecutive postseason game and their eighth going back to the regular season.
Carolina left-winger Jake Guentzel scored two goals and center Sebastian Aho recorded three assists for the Hurricanes.
Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen finished with 35 saves.
After going up 3-0 against the Islanders in the first round, the Hurricanes have lost three of their last four games.
Shesterkin was a big reason the Rangers pushed Game 2 into overtime. Late in the game, the Hurricanes had a short-handed opportunity, but Shesterkin stopped Seth Jarvis‘ shot on a 2-on-1 break. He then used his pad to stop a Jalen Chatfield shot attempt after allowing Aho to rebound the puck.
The Rangers’ Russian netminder is giving up just two goals a game through the first six games of the playoffs.
Although 18 shots were taken in the first overtime period, both Andersen and Shesterkin were stalwarts.
During the final minute of the third period, with the Rangers on a power play, after Skjei was called for a tripping call, ESPN shockingly went to the start of the Avalanche versus Stars game. The network later corrected the mistake after about 20 seconds.
The Hurricanes special teams were the big story during Game 1. Carolina was 0 for 5 on power play chances against the Rangers, and the power play continued to be the Hurricanes’ Achilles heel after going 0 for 5 in Game 2.
Neither team was excellent on special teams during the first 40 minutes. The Rangers and Hurricanes combined 0 for 6 on power plays during the first two periods.
Carolina was its own worst enemy on the power play. Twice, the Hurricanes had a man advantage only to commit a penalty.
Carolina had an early power play chance when Will Cuylle was whistled for goalie interference in the first period (5:16). But just like in the first game of the series, the Hurricanes came away empty-handed.
During the second period, the Hurricanes had a 5-to-4 advantage following Jacob Trouba’s tripping penalty. However, that power play chance was wiped away after Jake Guentzel punched Adam Fox (9:47) in front of the officials and was sent to the penalty box.
Following the penalty, former Rangers and current Hurricanes defenseman Tony DeAngelo was caught on ESPN cameras telling Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller, “I’ll fight you anytime.”
The Rangers capitalized on two of their seven power-play chances including on Kreider’s goal in the third. The other one came on Trocheck’s game winner.
Peter Laviolette’s team has scored eight power-play goals this postseason. That is second to only the Oilers, who have nine.
Like in Game 1, both teams exhibited physical play and found the net in the first period.
With 10:53 elapsed in the opening period, Lafreniere scored the game’s first goal with a wrist shot. Miller and Alex Wennberg helped set up the goal.
Carolina answered back after Guentzel scored his second goal of the playoffs. Then, on a 4-on-4 opportunity with six seconds left in the period, Dmitry Orlov‘s tip on a long shot gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 advantage and their first lead of the series.
The Blueshirts tied the game 2-2 in the second period (7:32) after Fox’s beautiful pass to Lafrenière, who buried the puck in the net for his second goal of the night.
Carolina regained the lead at 3-2 at 18:18 of the second period through Guentzel’s second goal of the night.
At 5:22 into the third period, Orlov was called for tripping. The Rangers capitalized on the penalty, and Kreider scored his third goal of the playoffs on a rebound after Andersen failed to nab the puck.
Hurricanes center Evgeny Kuznetsov (undisclosed) was scratched from Tuesday’s game. Max Comtois took his place and took some shots with the fourth line during the pre-game. Tuesday was Comtois’ 2024 postseason debut. Carolina signed Comtois to a one-year contract in March. He previously played for the Chicago Wolves (AHL), recording 28 points in 45 games.
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour initially told reporters pre-game that he didn’t anticipate any lineup changes for Game 2. Kuznetsov played in the previous six postseason games for the Hurricanes and has two goals and two assists.
Game 3 of the second-round series will shift to the PNC Arena in Raleigh on Thursday.
With The Associated Press
