Rangers outlast Hurricanes 1-0 thanks to Igor Shesterkin's second straight shutout
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Igor Shesterkin made 28 saves for his second consecutive shutout, and the Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0 in a matchup of the top teams in the Metropolitan Division on Tuesday night.
Adam Fox scored late in the first period, and that goal held up through Carolina using an extra skater for the final two minutes.
Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 23 shots, but the Hurricanes’ three-game winning streak ended in the final regular-season meeting with the Rangers, who have a six-point lead with 17 games remaining. New York won the season series 2-1.
The Hurricanes were shut out for the second time this season and the first time since Oct. 24 at Tampa Bay. It came two nights after Carolina’s season high in goals in a 7-2 rout of Calgary.
Shesterkin blanked St. Louis on 26 shots Saturday and now has three shutouts this season.
Forward Jake Guentzel made his Hurricanes debut less than a week after he was acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh, recording one shot on goal in a little more than 15 minutes.
Guentzel, who had 52 points (22 goals, 30 assists) in 50 games with the Penguins this season, had been out since Feb. 14 because of an upper-body injury.
Fox’s 11th goal of the season came with eight seconds left in the first period when the puck deflected off the skate of Carolina defenseman Brady Skjei and slid under Kochetkov. Chris Kreider and Ryan Lindgren had the assists.
The Rangers were without center Matt Rempe, who started a four-game suspension announced before the game. The punishment stemmed from an elbow to the head of New Jersey’s Jonas Siegenthaler on Monday.
UP NEXT
Rangers: At Tampa Bay on Thursday.
Hurricanes: Florida at home Thursday.
