The Carolina Hurricanes managed to keep their season alive last night, squeaking out a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers in Game 4.
The lineup change for Carolina came with the team opting to go back to Frederik Andersen in goal, after turning to Pyotr Kochetkov in Game 3.
The Hurricanes had an electric start to the game, and managed to open the scoring only two minutes in, when Evgeny Kuznetsov entered the Rangers’ end and went bar-down with a perfect wrist shot to beat Igor Shesterkin. Then only less than five minutes later, Teuvo Teravainen threw the puck on net, and Stefan Noesen was able to bury a rebound, quickly putting the Hurricanes up 2-0.
However, the Rangers came alive with a series of chances right afterwards, and then under two minutes after the Noesen goal, Will Cuylle took a pass to go in alone and beat Andersen, cutting the lead in half.
However, after the Hurricanes were able to settle things down from there, with about five minutes to go in the period, Sebastian Aho took a pass from Jake Guentzel and beat Shesterkin from the slot, reinstating the two-goal lead.
Carolina ended up killing off a late New York power play to close out the period from there, taking a 3-1 lead to intermission.
The Hurricanes then had their first power play opportunity early in the second frame, but of course, they couldn’t convert, and New York had some excellent chances that followed, headlined by a 3-on-1 where Alex Wennberg put a shot off the post.
But with about seven minutes to go in the period, Braden Schneider put a shot on net from the point that was tipped in by Barclay Goodrow, cutting the lead to 3-2. We saw a scrum to end the second period from there, with the Hurricanes still clinging to the lead as momentum started to shift.
Then only two minutes into the third period, Alexis Lafreniere was able to bank a puck off Andersen and in from behind the net, completing the comeback and erasing Carolina’s lead. The Hurricanes did outshoot New York 8-5 in the third period overall, though the Rangers had a couple dangerous opportunities.
But then with Carolina on their 17th man advantage of the series with about three minutes to go, Brady Skjei wired a point shot past Shesterkin through traffic, finally giving the Hurricanes their first power play goal of the series and putting the Hurricanes back ahead with little time remaining.
A late push from the Rangers with the net empty saw the last two minutes of the game played pretty much entirely in Carolina’s end, but the Hurricanes managed to hang on, taking the 4-3 win and sending the series back to New York for Game 5.
So the Hurricanes finally managed to squeak out a win, it’ll just come down to whether it was too little, too late.
Maybe the story for the Hurricanes was that they finally managed to score on the power play, and it couldn’t have come at a more important time, resulting in the game winner. After a terrible drought that’s been a contributing factor to their 3-0 hole to start the series, it’s almost fitting that the man advantage then led them to the win in Game 4.
Carolina also managed to bury four goals against Igor Shesterkin, marking the first time in the last 31 playoff games that Shesterkin surrendered more than three goals. After having such a tough time converting on their chances in Games 2 and 3, it has to at least generate a little bit of confidence that they were able to beat him last night.
The Hurricanes going back to Andersen was a story as well, in a decision that wasn’t necessarily unexpected, but also wasn’t a clear one either after a pretty good Game 3 from Pyotr Kochetkov. The Lafreniere goal wasn’t great, but overall, it was a pretty decent game from Andersen.
Up front, Jake Guentzel and Sebastian Aho continue to lead the Hurricanes in the second round, with both players registering at least a point in every game against the Rangers thus far. If Carolina has any chance of climbing back into the series, they need both Aho and Guentzel to be great over the next three games as well.
Rod Brind’Amour also wasn’t afraid to rely on his top players, really limiting ice time for the fourth line. All of Evgeny Kuznetsov, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Stefan Noesen only played between about seven and nine minutes last night, though Kuznetsov and Noesen combined for the first two goals of the game.
So Carolina lives to fight another day, even if they remain in a really tough spot. The saving grace is that this has been such a close series from game to game that there’s certainly a realistic chance the Hurricanes can bring the series back to Carolina for a Game 6.
Game 5 goes tomorrow night in New York.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM THE SERIES
- Previewing Round 2: Hurricanes vs. Rangers
- Special teams battle makes the difference in Canes' Game 1 loss to Rangers
- Hurricanes suffer 2OT loss to Rangers in Game 2, fall behind 2-0 in series
- Canes on brink of elimination after devastating Game 3 OT loss to Rangers
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