’Canes win, take control of series
Andrei Svechnikov kept on the attack, both in skating with a physical edge and continuing to fire pucks at the net.
Now he has a franchise first and the Hurricanes are a win away from a sweep.
The 20-year-old scored three times for the first postseason hat trick in franchise history and the Hurricanes beat the Rangers 4-1 on Monday in Toronto, securing a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup qualifier series.
Svechnikov beat Henrik Lundqvist for the game’s first goal less than 5 minutes into the game. He followed with a power-play onetimer early in the second off a feed from Sami Vatanen, then buried a third at 14:02 of the third off a feed from Sebastian Aho — who assisted all three Svechnikov goals.
“I think he’ll get a few more (hat tricks) before his time’s over in his career,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “He’s a gamer, too. This guy is one of those players in this break that worked on this game, he wanted to get better.”
The 6-foot-2 Svechnikov, the No. 2 pick in the 2018 draft, had an assist in Saturday’s Game 1 victory then followed by delivering a game-high six hits in this one.
“I just love that style, just hit hard,” Svechnikov said. “I think I’m playing a hard game. That’s I think why I’m scoring goals.”
Svechnikov’s first career hat trick is the first in the franchise’s 144-game postseason history, including the Hartford Whalers. He became only the eighth player in NHL history age 20 or younger to tally a postseason hat trick, the last being the Predators’ Filip Forsberg in April 2015.
With no fans to throw hats onto the ice in Toronto for Svechnikov’s hat trick, the Hurricanes tweeted a photo that they had put several in his locker at PNC Arena back in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“He’s the whole package,” Rangers coach David Quinn said.
Jets even series: Nikolaj Ehlers scored a third-period power-play goal to give the Jets a 3-2 win over the Flames in Edmonton, Alberta and draw even in their qualifyinground series.
Adam Lowry led the Jets with a goal and an assist in Game 2 of the best-of-five series. Rookie Jansen Harkins also scored for the Jets, and Jack Roslovic contributed a pair of assists.
Vezina Trophy finalist Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves for the win.
The Jets were forced into wholesale line changes Monday in the absence of centers Mark Scheifele and Mason Appleton and winger Patrik Laine.
Scheifele injured his left leg tangling with the Flames’ Matthew Tkachuk in the first period and Laine appeared to hurt his wrist in a third-period collision with Mark Giordano on Saturday. Appleton was absent Monday after playing Saturday.
Good news: The NHL announced Monday that there have been no positive coronavirus tests through the first week in its two bubbles. The league said it has administered 7,013 tests since the 24 teams arrived in Edmonton, Alberta, and Toronto on July 26. Every member of each team’s 52-person traveling party has been tested daily.