Rangers stunned by Hurricanes in Game 5 loss at MSG
Four NHL teams have come back from a three-games-to-none deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series. The Rangers are going to have to really buckle down to make sure the Carolina Hurricanes don’t become the fifth.
The Hurricanes, on the verge of being swept out of the playoffs going into the weekend, came to Madison Square Garden on Monday and rallied for four goals in the third period to overcome a one-goal deficit, stun the Rangers and quiet the Garden crowd with a 4-1 victory that kept their season alive for at least a few more days.
Carolina has won two straight games and is halfway to a stunning comeback from being down 3-0. The teams have a couple of days off before the series shifts to Raleigh, North Carolina, for Game 6 on Thursday night. The Rangers will try for the third time to close out the Hurricanes and advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
“Obviously, you want to close out the series, but we put ourselves in a position that we get a couple cracks at it,’’ said the Rangers’ Jacob Trouba, who scored his team’s only goal, a shorthanded effort in the second period. “We’ve played good games in Carolina. We know we can play in that building. We’ll go down there and bring a better game.’’
The Rangers led 1-0 entering the third period, but the Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal tied the score with a pretty backhand goal against Igor Shesterkin (24 saves) at 3:33 of the period. That was the first of three goals in 6 minutes and 23 seconds, a span that turned the game around.
Evgeny Kuznetsov got away from Artemi Panarin to bang in a rebound to put Carolina ahead 2-1 at 6:39, and a turnover behind the Rangers’ net led to Jack Drury setting up Jordan Martinook in the slot to make it 3-1 at 9:56. Martin Necas added an empty-net goal at 16:29.
Trouba was willing to chalk up the loss to a bad third period, but coach Peter Laviolette wasn’t.
“We weren’t sharp tonight,’’ he said. “We gave up way too many chances in the first period. It wasn’t the night that we were looking for, so it was more than the third period.’’
The Rangers held the edge in the first period, outhitting Carolina 14-6, but the shots on goal were even at 9-9. Shesterkin seemed to have the more difficult chances, including a breakaway by Jake Guentzel with 3:06 left in the period that the goalie kicked out with his left pad.
The Rangers scored in the second period with Adam Fox in the box serving a holding penalty. Trouba blocked a shot by Sebastian Aho in the left-wing circle, and as Aho fell down, Trouba collected the puck and was off on a two-on-one with Barclay Goodrow on his left. Instead of passing, he fired a slap shot past Frederik Andersen (20 saves) at 6:23 for his first goal of the playoffs.
But then came the third period, and the Rangers crumbled.
Afterward, the Rangers clung to the narrative that momentum has not swung in the series. They insist momentum doesn’t carry over from one game to the next.
“No,’’ Chris Kreider said. “It’s one game at a time. During the year, if you told me we’d be [up] 3-2 against the [third-] best team in the league, with an opportunity to close it out, it’s a pretty good spot to be in. So go down there, be better, be more detailed, work for each other and find a way to win a game.’’
Notes & quotes:
Forward Filip Chytil, who made a surprise return to the lineup in Game 3 after missing the final 72 games of the regular season and the first six games of the playoffs with a suspected concussion, participated in the morning skate Monday after missing Game 4 with what the team called an illness . . . Forward Blake Wheeler, who has been practicing with the team in a red non-contact jersey after making his way back from a lower-leg injury he suffered in February, skated in the morning in a regular white jersey, meaning he was cleared for full contact in practices . . . Matt Rempe entered the lineup after sitting out Games 3 and 4. He took the spot held by Jonny Brodzinski, who replaced Chytil in Game 4.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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