In another tightly contested game with another unlikely goal-scoring hero, the Carolina Hurricanes took hold of a 2-0 series lead Friday night with a 2-0 win over the Rangers in PNC Arena. Defenseman Brendan Smith broke the stalemate in the second period, while Sebastian Aho added an empty netter to ice things. Antti Raanta picked up the first postseason shutout of his NHL career, stopping all 21 shots he faced Friday night.
Not only did the Rangers barely sniff a scoring chance on their four power-play opportunities, their issues against the Hurricanes' in-your-face pressure penalty kill during a four-minute man-advantage in the second period led to a shorthanded goal for Brendan Smith off the rush. That was all the Hurricanes needed. Sebastian Aho scored an empty-net goal and Carolina won 2-0.
Game 2 of this second-round matchup followed a similar script to Game 1. In contrast, the Carolina Hurricanes found a way to come back late in the third Wednesday night, and the New York Rangers failed to generate anything for 60 minutes Friday night. The result was a 2-0 defeat, which puts the Rangers in the debilitating position of having to win four of the next five games in this series to advance (from ‘Rangers in 2-0 hole after getting blanked by Hurricanes in Game 2 loss,’ NY Post, 05/20/22).
No | Player | Pos |
---|---|---|
20 | C | |
31 | G | |
25 | D | |
28 | D | |
77 | D | |
13 | LW | |
71 | RW | |
51 | D | |
D | ||
24 | RW | |
52 | G | |
82 | C | |
80 | G | |
78 | RW | |
48 | LW | |
88 | RW | |
21 | LW | |
22 | D | |
32 | G | |
76 | D | |
74 | D | |
7 | D | |
11 | C | |
18 | RW | |
37 | LW | |
86 | LW | |
16 | C |