Zibanejad’s Two-Goal Game Propels Rangers to Game One Victory Over the Hurricanes

The Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers hosted the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden for Game One of their series on Sunday afternoon, kicking off the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Rangers, who won their first-round series against the Washington Capitals in four games, have had the luxury of being off for the previous week. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes defeated the New York Islanders in five games last Tuesday to advance to the next round. The Rangers and Hurricanes faced off three times during the regular season, with the Rangers emerging victorious in the series 2-1. The losing side scored one goal or none in each of the three regular season games, meaning that outstanding goaltending played a key role in deciding the outcome. In Game One, both teams' offenses came out on fire at the start of the contest. But, the Rangers were able to maintain their offensive rhythm throughout, and thanks to two goals from Mika Zibanejad, they defeated the Hurricanes 4-3 to grab a 1-0 series lead. 

The Rangers took an early lead in the first period, 2:46 into play, when Jack Roslovic skated into the offensive zone, behind the net with the puck, and wrapped around to find Zibanejad, who was wide open in front and shot the puck past the left pad of Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen and into the net. Just 1:02 later, at 3:48, Jaccob Slavin's top-of-the-zone shot deflected off Rangers winger Alexis Lafreniere's stick and went over goalie Igor Shesterkin's left shoulder to tie the game at one. The Rangers would embark on their first power play of the game midway through the first period as Tony DeAngelo of the Hurricanes was called for a roughing penalty. At 10:05, nine seconds into the man advantage, Chris Kreider backhanded the puck to an open Zibanejad close to the left circle. Zibanejad slapped the puck into the open net past Andersen's right blocker pad for his second goal of the game, bringing the Rangers' lead to 2-1. Late in the period, the Hurricanes' Evgeny Kuznetsov was called for a cross-checking penalty, setting up the Rangers for their second power play of the game. The New York lead was increased to 3-1 when Zibanejad found Vincent Trocheck close to the front of the net, who then buried the puck under Andersen's glove, with 3:32 left in the period and only 14 seconds into the power play. 

Following a thrilling first period in which both sides combined for four goals, the middle frame would end without a goal despite 16 shots taken overall, as the Rangers' 3-1 advantage held firm. Only 2:48 into the third period, Martin Necas, who had eluded two Rangers defenders and struck the puck past Shesterkin's left side, received a pass from Jordan Martinook at the top of the offensive zone, allowing the Hurricanes to cut the Rangers' advantage to 3-2. With 11:39 remaining in regulation, Artemi Panarin broke free down the left side of the ice and wrist-fired the puck into the net, beating Andersen's five-hole, to give the Rangers a two-goal lead again at 4-2. The Hurricanes would reduce their deficit to 4-3 with 1:45 remaining in the game after pulling Andersen for the extra attacker. Seth Jarvis scored off a rebound shot from Sebastian Aho into the open net after Shesterkin was out of position in the crease. Despite the Hurricanes' best attempt to tie the game late in the third period, the Rangers would hang on for the win as they go into Game Two on Tuesday night hoping to grab a 2-0 series lead.