Rangers smother Hurricanes, climb back into series
After two tough losses on the road put them in another series deficit, the New York Rangers again bounced back with a big home win.
Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist, Igor Shesterkin stopped 43 shots, and the Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 Sunday in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series.
“It was a tight battle again,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “Igor was outstanding for us, and that was they key . ... We defended pretty good and guys did the right thing with the puck.”
Chris Kreider and Tyler Motte also scored as the Rangers cut their deficit to 2-1 in the best-of-7 matchup. Game 4 is Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
“It's a terrific environment ... so much energy throughout the entire game,” Kreider said. “It's easy to feed off the energy the crowd brings.”
It was just New York's second win against Carolina in the teams' last 10 meetings, dating to the qualifying round of the 2020 playoffs in the bubble in Toronto. The Hurricanes swept that best-of-5 series in three games and won three of four in the regular season.
The Rangers, who came back from a 3-1 series deficit in the first round against Pittsburgh, improved to 4-1 at home. They got a muchneeded win against the Hurricanes after losing 2-1 in OT in Game 1 and 2-0 in Game 2.
Nino Niederreiter scored for Carolina, and Antti Raanta had 30 saves. The Hurricanes, 6-0 at home, dropped to 0-4 on the road this postseason. LIGHTNING 5, PANTHERS 1 >> Steven Stamkos scored two goals and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists as the host Lightning moved to the brink of another trip to the Eastern Conference final. Corey Perry and Erik Cernak also scored, and reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy had 34 saves to help the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions take a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Panthers, who had the NHL's best record in the regular season. TORONTO'S GIORDANO GETS EXTENSION >>The Maple Leafs signed veteran defenseman Mark Giordano to a two-year contract extension. The average annual value of the contract is $800,000. Giordano, 38, had eight goals and 27 assists last season split between Toronto and Seattle.