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Rangers knot series at 2 games apiece with 4-1 win

By Steve Paulus

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 24: Ryan Reaves #75 of the New York Rangers confronts Max Domi #13 of the Carolina Hurricanes near the end of their game in Game Four of the Second Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 24, 2022 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Hurricanes 4-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 24: Ryan Reaves #75 of the New York Rangers confronts Max Domi #13 of the Carolina Hurricanes near the end of their game in Game Four of the Second Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 24, 2022 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Hurricanes 4-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 24: Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers defends the net against the Carolina Hurricanes during the second period in Game Four of the Second Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 24, 2022 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Hurricanes 4-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 24: Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers defends the net against the Carolina Hurricanes during the second period in Game Four of the Second Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 24, 2022 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Hurricanes 4-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The Shesterkin factor

Igor Shesterkin has been excellent and he might have made his best safe just 73 seconds into the game when he stopped Brett Pesce.

That allowed the Rangers to take over play and dominate the first period.

Shesterkin has been outstanding in this series.  He has allowed five goals in the four games with a save percentage of .959.  In his postgame press conference Rod Brind’Amour said that he was happy with the looks the Hurricanes had, but they just couldn’t score on them.

The power play takes over

The Rangers had an early power play on a Seth Jarvis tripping call and though they didn’t score, the Rangers were in the Carolina zone for the entire two minutes and had that set the stage for the second power play of the period when they did score on a goal by Frank Vatrano.

It was the second straight game with a power play goal and they stopped both of the Carolina man advantages.   The Rangers had seven shots with five of them high danger chances in 3 :53 of power play time in the first period.

Just over two minutes after the Vatrano goal, it was Adam Fox deflecting a Ryan Lindgren shot from the top of the faceoff circle.

The two goal lead was huge for the Rangers and it was made possible when Chris Kreider used his feet to get the puck deeper into the one when his stick broke.

A potent offense

The Rangers padded the lead when Mika Zibanejad scored when another Ryan Lindgren blast was stopped by Antti Raanta , but trickled through him with Zibanejad on the doorstep.

The goal came at 16:48 of the second period after the Rangers had almost scored shorthanded.  Chris Kreider and Zibanejad had a two-on-one and Raanta was able to stop Zibanejad’s attempt.

Teuvo Teravainnen had  scored 6:33 into the third period after a giveaway in the defensive zone and Ranger fans were a little nervous with the team protecting the dreaded two goal lead.

Artemi Panarin had a breakaway stopped by Raanta three minutes later and that looked like it could be costly, but Andrew Copp then scored on a give-and-go with Ryan Strome to restore the three goal lead.

The goal came at the 11:10 mark and the Rangers went into a defensive shell for the last nine minutes, allowing only four shots on goal by Carolina.

Here is a video recap of the game.

There are some issues facing the Blueshirts.

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