Carolina wins again, avoids elimination
NEW YORK — Jordan Staal and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored 3:06 apart in the third period, and the Carolina Hurricanes got four goals in the third period for a 4-1 win over the New York Rangers in Game 5, staving off elimination for the second straight game.
Jordan Martinook and Martin Necas also scored in the Hurricanes’ big third period, and Frederik Andersen — starting for the fourth time in five games in this series and ninth time in 10 games in the postseason — had 20 saves.
“There was no panic, we understood what the situation was,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’amoiur said. “It wasn’t like we were dead. … You were one shot away, and that’s the way they approached it.”
Jacob Trouba scored a short-handed goal and Igor Shesterkin stopped 24 shots for New York, which has lost two straight after taking a 3-0 series lead.
Game 6 is Thursday night in Raleigh, North Carolina.
■ Stars 5, Avalanche 1: At Denver, Wyatt Johnston scored twice as Dallas pushed Colorado to the brink of elimination. Dallas can close it out at home in Game 5 on Wednesday. Miro Heiskanen and Evgenii Dadonov also scored, while Sam Steel added an empty-net goal. Jake Oettinger made 24 saves.
Before the game, the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players’ Association announced that Colorado forward Valero Nichushkin was suspended for at least six months without pay. He was placed in stage 3 of the league’s player assistance program. It’s the second time this season Nichushkin has been in the program.
A Colorado lineup missing Nichushkin, the team’s leading goal scorer (nine) in this playoff run, struggled early to get on track and was outshot by a 16-2 margin in the first period. Casey Mittelstadt scored Colorado’s lone goal.