Rangers series just got very serious as Hurricanes force Game 6
Igor Shesterkin of the Rangers looks on during the second period against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on Monday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
No, the Rangers would not trade places with the Hurricanes, who still need two wins to advance in the Stanley Cup playoffs to the Rangers’ one.
But make no mistake: The Rangers are in legitimate trouble after a 4-1 loss to Carolina at Madison Square Garden on Monday night in Game 5 of their second-round series.
After four games that could have gone either way — one of which the Rangers won in overtime, one in double overtime — this was a stinker.
Coach Peter Laviolette did not let his team off the hook, saying after Carolina’s four-goal third period, “It wasn’t a reflection of who we were for the majority of the year. Tonight was not it for us.”
Even when given a chance to at least praise his team’s effort, Laviolette said only, “There were a lot of issues tonight. We’ll go back and look at it and try to correct those issues.”
Bad games happen, even to good teams. And again, the Rangers get two more cracks at this. What makes their situation alarming is their opponent.
The Hurricanes finished third in the NHL with 111 points, only three behind the Rangers, who set a team record with 55 victories en route to 114 points.
Oddsmakers consistently have been skeptical of the Rangers, even after they won the first three games. Maybe they knew something about these teams and this matchup.
Monday’s game was evenly played through one period, although Laviolette was troubled by the number of chances the Rangers gave up even then.
When Jacob Trouba scored a shorthanded goal at 6:23 of the second period, it looked as if the Rangers might secure the clincher behind their usual formula of special teams play and goaltender Igor Shesterkin’s excellence.
But Carolina had the Rangers on their heels early in the third and soon were rewarded for their diligence, securing goals by Jordan Staal at 3:33, Evgeny Kuznetsov at 6:39 and Jordan Martinook at 9:56, all at even strength. Martin Necas added an empty-netter at 16:29, and just like that, a series that had begun with four one-goal games had a mini-blowout.
Vincent Trocheck objected to the term “snowballed” to describe the events of the last period, although he did say the Hurricanes “wanted it more in the third.”
He also acknowledged the challenge at hand.
“It’s a seven-game series against a team that was three points behind us in a record-breaking season,” he said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
How does he expect the Rangers to respond in Game 6 in Raleigh on Thursday night?
“With our best,” he said.
Trouba said, “Definitely something to learn on. I don’t think we thought this was going to be a cakewalk. Lost two, face a little adversity. We’ll see what we’re made of going down to Carolina for Game 6.”
The Rangers have been made of the right stuff all season and are a mature team that should be able to handle this circumstance. But again: The Hurricanes are very good, and the Rangers are very much aware of what blowing a 3-0 series lead would mean.
This is getting serious.
NHL teams are 205-4 in winning a series after leading 3-0. One of the four winners was Laviolette’s 2009-10 Flyers, who came back against the Bruins in the second round and later reached the Cup Final.
So he knows it is possible. But anyone who watched Game 5 knows it is possible.
If the odds in these games are more or less even, the Rangers now are two lost coin flips away from elimination.
“I think this team has found a way to win games all year, gone through stretches of adversity, and we found a way,” Trouba said. “I don’t think we were planning on winning every game in a row here throughout these playoffs.”
Laviolette expressed confidence in his team’s resilience, too. But he had nothing good to say about Game 5.
“We weren’t sharp,” he said.
As they prepared for Game 4 on Saturday, the Rangers had a chance to become the first team to start the playoffs with two four-game sweeps.
As they prepare for Game 6 on Thursday, making history no longer is the goal.
Avoiding disaster is.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.