Hurricanes Stave Off Elimination with Game Four Victory Over the Rangers

The New York Rangers headed into Game Four against the Carolina Hurricanes with a dominating 3-0 series lead, having won Game Three in overtime. They were hoping to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in three seasons. The Hurricanes, meanwhile, wanted to force a Game Five in the series and avoid being swept. The Hurricanes, who finished the regular season as the second-best team in the league with a 26.9% power-play percentage, have struggled to use their man advantage, going 0 for 15 in the first three games against the Rangers. However, on Saturday night, the Hurricanes power-play would step up big time in Game Four, scoring a goal late in the third period to beat the Rangers 4-3 and avoid elimination. 

In the first period, at 1:51, the Hurricanes would quickly jump out in front to take a 1-0 lead thanks to a forced turnover in the Rangers' zone, which allowed Evgeny Kuznetsov to corral the loose puck and wrist-shot it past Rangers' goalie Igor Shesterkin for his third goal of the playoffs. At 6:33, Stefan Noesen backhanded a rebound shot from Teuvo Teravainen into the net past Shesterkin, doubling the Hurricanes' lead to 2-0 as they kept up the pressure on the Rangers defense. At 8:06, Kaapo Kakko's pass to a wide-open Will Cuylle resulted in an odd-man rush and a snapshot of the puck over Hurricanes goalkeeper Frederik Andersen's glove into the net, cutting the Rangers' deficit to 2-1. The Hurricanes would take back a two-goal lead at 3-1 with 4:31 remaining in the first period when Jake Guentzel retrieved the puck from behind the net and passed it to Sebastian Aho, who shot it over Shesterkin. 

In the second period, with 7:17 left in the frame, the Rangers would make it a one-goal game at 3-2 after Braden Schneider’s shot near the blue line would be deflected through traffic by Rangers’ Barclay Goodrow and past Andersen into the goal. Both sides had plenty of chances to seize control of the game as the second period came to an end, with the Hurricanes having a modest advantage in shots on goal (23–20) and a strong physical presence (35 combined hits in total during the first two periods). The Rangers would tie the game at 3-3 early in the third period when Alexis Lafreniere backhanded the puck at the side of the net, and it bounced off Andersen's backside as he was outside the crease and into the net. The Hurricanes would get their second power-play of the game late in the frame when Ryan Lindgren of the Rangers was penalized for a tripping penalty. With 3:11 remaining in regulation and only 32 seconds into the man advantage, Brady Skjei’s slap shot from the top of the zone would go past Shesterkin’s glove and into the net to give the Hurricanes a 4-3 lead. The Rangers would pull Shesterkin for the additional attacker with two minutes left. However, the Hurricanes would hold on for the 4-3 win to force a Game Five on Monday night back in New York, despite the Rangers' best efforts to tie the game late.