The New York Rangers hit the road for the next two games looking to take a commanding lead in their Eastern Conference Second Round best-of-7 series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
On Tuesday night, Igor Shesterkin turned aside 54 of 57 shots to set up Vincent Trocheck’s dramatic double-overtime goal. It was an amazing performance that included multiple game-saving stops in the closing minutes of the third period and both overtime sessions.
“When your goaltender is making those saves in overtime– when you do it in the second period, you have half the game to fight back,” coach Peter Laviolette praised Shesterkin. “But in overtime, those saves have to be made and he was fantastic.”
The Rangers head coach also has compared this series to a heavyweight fight, where neither opponent was going to just punch away to a lopsided win. With the scene shifting from Broadway to Raleigh, his charges need to continue bobbing-and-weaving in order to wisely find openings for a knockout punch.
“You’re going to get punched, and you’re going to have punch back,” Laviolette said on Wednesday. “To me, [Game 2] wasn’t a miraculous knockout in the 15th round, it just went back and forth… I do think there’s been games we didn’t play well and we found a way to come back. This was more going blow for blow with a really good team. We were able to hang in there and get one punch in double overtime.”
Aside from Laviolette’s boxing analogy, Game 2 had several heated moments that included both goalies being run over and a monstrous near-miss hit attempt. Rangers captain Jacob Trouba almost demolished Hurricanes forward Martin Necas, but instead went flying over him head first into the boards.
“Elbow me in the head, I guess,” Necas accused. “Maybe he was protecting himself from going into the boards, but he knows. He knows. Everyone knows what kind of player he is. I mean good for him. Nothing happened. We’re all good and I’m excited for the next game.”
At the end of the day, a fight is on tap at PNC Arena whether actual fists fly or not. New York has a chance to take a 3-0 stranglehold on this series, and the Hurricanes will be desperate to avoid that scenario.
Here’s today’s game and broadcast info:
New York Rangers vs Carolina Hurricanes (GAME 3)
Date/Time: May 9, 2024 @ 7:00 PM ET
Arena: PNC Arena
TV: TNT
Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM
Series: 2-0 NYR
Note: Subject to change, updated for each game
Related: Hurricanes will remain without key defenseman for Game 3
New York Rangers projected lineup
Here’s the expected lineup:
Kreider – Zibanejad – Roslovic
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Cuylle – Wennberg – Kakko
Vesey – Goodrow – Rempe
Lindgren – Fox
Gustafsson – Trouba
Miller – Schneider
About The Author
Leave a Reply