Rest did not equal rust for the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon. The Blueshirts jumped out to a big start in Game 1 of their best-of-seven Round 2 series against the Carolina Hurricanes, scoring three goals in the first 16:28 to get out to a lead they'd never relinquish in a 4-3 victory at Madison Square Garden. “I think we looked not bad after like the first shift,” said Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who stopped 22 of the 25 shots he faced to put together a 28th consecutive postseason game of allowing three goals or less. After Mika Zibanejad and Hurricanes defenseman Jaccon Slavin swapped goals in the first 3:48 of regulation, Zibanejad potted another one, followed by Vincent Trocheck and both on the power play, to get the Rangers out to their 3-1 lead.
GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
82 | 55 | 23 | 4 | 114 | |
82 | 52 | 23 | 7 | 111 | |
82 | 39 | 27 | 16 | 94 | |
82 | 40 | 31 | 11 | 91 | |
82 | 38 | 32 | 12 | 88 | |
82 | 38 | 33 | 11 | 87 | |
82 | 38 | 39 | 5 | 81 | |
82 | 27 | 43 | 12 | 66 |