Rangers blanked by Hurricanes, trail series 2-0

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Rangers again played a smart, stingy, structured game.

And they lost again as the Hurricanes were even stingier.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of ice out there for either team,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said.

Thanks to a shorthanded goal and an empty-netter, the Hurricanes won Game 2 of their second-round series, 2-0, on Friday night at PNC Arena. They took a 2-0 series lead after rallying for a 2-1 overtime win in Wednesday’s Game 1.

Gallant had called the first two periods of that opener “perfect” for his team. Yet the Rangers have gone 116:05 in the series without scoring a goal.

“We’ve just got to find a way to generate more,” Frank Vatrano said. “We’ve done it in the first round all year. In the playoffs, that space is a little harder to get. We’ve just got to find that extra bounce and just that extra space to create offense.”

“They’re a good defensive team,” Jacob Trouba said. “They’re good in their D zone. Get more pucks in, more bodies in, more traffic. Create your own luck. Create your own bounces. I think that’s got to be a little more of our mindset.”

Former Ranger Antti Raanta made 21 saves for his first career playoff shutout, helping to preserve the win with a strong glove save on Vatrano at 17:17 of the third period. He then robbed Artemi Panarin off the ensuing faceoff with Igor Shesterkin (20 saves) pulled for an extra skater.

The Hurricanes clinched the win on Sebastian Aho’s empty-net goal with 1.8 seconds remaining. They still need to show they can win on the road in the playoffs after the home team won each time in their seven-game victory over the Bruins in the first round.

Game 3 is Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

“You get your team prepared to play, you play as hard as you can and you hope you win these hockey games,” Gallant said. “We’ve got to go back home and take care of Sunday afternoon’s game. That’s the first thing we’ve got to do.

“I’m happy with the way we performed overall. I wish we would’ve got one of these two games. We probably could have. That’s the way it goes.

“Play well. Play hard. We’ll find a way to get another win.”

The Rangers haven’t always been the most decisive team with their shots this season, often bypassing chances to make the extra — if often unnecessary — pass. But they must find better shooting lanes against the Hurricanes in addition to getting more traffic to Raanta’s crease.

The Hurricanes blocked 24 shots in Game 2.

“There were three or four chances I thought tonight in the first two periods where we should have shot pucks,” Gallant said. “Laffy [Alexis Lafreniere] had a chance on the power play. He makes the pass, it goes through, it’s a goal. But he was right in the slot and you’ve got to shoot those pucks.”

Raanta was forced to make a strong save on defenseman Adam Fox at 11:34 of the second period, part of a long stretch of sustained pressure in the Hurricanes’ zone that led to former Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei being called for a four-minute high stick after drawing blood from Lafreniere at 13:01.

But the Rangers spent most of the first 2 minutes, 30 seconds of their extended power play chasing the puck back to their end. Then Aho was able to control the puck and lead a two-on-one shorthanded rush, threading the puck through Fox’s legs to find former Rangers defenseman Brendan Smith open for a 1-0 lead at 15:54.

Fourth-liner Kevin Rooney, put on the ice for the end of the power play, then negated the rest of the man advantage with a boarding penalty on defenseman Ian Cole.

That turned into a five-on-three for the Hurricanes after Chris Kreider slashed Vincent Trocheck at 17:30 of the second period. The Rangers kept the deficit at one as Shesterkin made three saves on the Hurricanes’ two-man advantage that lasted 1 minute, 10 seconds — including a stretching glove save on former Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo at 17:43 — and the Rangers killed off the rest of the power play.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.