Rangers lose fourth in a row after blowing third-period lead to Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. — The last time the Rangers were in this building, which was then known as PNC Arena but now has been re-christened Lenovo Center, Chris Kreider’s third-period hat trick rescued the Blueshirts from a two-goal deficit to give the Rangers a series-clinching win over the Hurricanes in Game 6 of their second-round playoff series.

On Wednesday, when the Rangers returned here for the first time this season, they were in the throes of a three-game losing streak and didn’t have Kreider in the lineup. He was out for the second straight game with what he revealed were back spasms. They also missed center Filip Chytil, out for a sixth straight game with an upper-body injury.

Although they played their strongest game in a week, against a Carolina team that is leading the Metropolitan Division, the Rangers carried a lead into the third period, but couldn’t hold it.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s wraparound goal against Igor Shesterkin (26 saves) tied the score for Carolina midway through the third period. Then, with Vincent Trocheck sitting out a hooking penalty, rookie Jackson Blake scored on a power play with 7:59 left to give the Hurricanes a 4-3 victory and deal the Rangers (12-8-1) their fourth straight loss and sixth in the last 10 games.

Despite the improved effort, the Rangers weren’t in the mood to look on the bright side.

“We ended up losing a hockey game we were winning going into the third period,’’ coach Peter Laviolette said. “Nobody feels good about that.’’

With the locker room still uneasy after reports surfaced this week that Rangers GM Chris Drury had alerted the rest of the league he was looking to make trades — Kreider and captain Jacob Trouba were named as among the players Drury was looking to ship out — the Rangers fell behind early on a goal by Jack Drury — Chris Drury’s nephew. It came from a sharp angle at 4:53 of the first period.

But the Rangers started to push back and they tied it late in the period on a goal from Jonny Brodzinski, who was back in the lineup. He replaced Matt Rempe, who was sent back to Hartford Tuesday after playing in Monday’s loss to the Blues.

When the first period was over, the shots on goal were 12-12, which felt like progress given how they’d been badly outshot in their last three games. Even the totals for the game, 30-24 in favor of Carolina, seemed pretty manageable.

“I think we defended smart tonight,’’ forward Reilly Smith said. “I think we played better. We came up against a good team. There’s no doubt about that. They’re going to get their offense and they’re going to get some sustained pressure, but I think we defended well as a group and we gave ourselves an opportunity to win.’’

The Hurricanes’ power play ended up playing a major role. Carolina finished 2-for-4 with the man advantage while the Rangers were 0-for-2 and haven’t scored a power-play goal in seven straight games.

Carolina retook the lead on Seth Jarvis’ power-play goal at 1:13 of the second, just as a penalty to Will Cuylle was expiring. The Rangers tied it again on the first career goal by rookie Brett Berard, playing in his second NHL game. Berard whipped a wrister from the left wing past Spencer Martin (21 saves) on the short side to make it 2-2 at 9:13.

Then Adam Edstrom scored his second of the season off a two-on-one pass from Smith to give the Rangers the lead, 3-2, with 1:11 left in the second. But they couldn’t hold it. Afterward, they took no solace from their improved play.

“Everybody knows it’s probably a better effort for us,’’ Trouba said. “But there’s not really any moral victories at this level.’’

Blue notes

Cuylle’s assist gave him points in five of his last six games (four goals, three assists) and upped his total to 18 points in 21 games this season. He also led the team in hits with five, which increased his season total to 90. He is fourth in the league in that category . . . D Adam Fox led the team with 23:00 of ice time. He had an assist and was a plus-2.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

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.