The New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes opened the NHL’s qualifying round of the 2020 post season.
Well, the Hurricanes opened the playoffs, the Rangers. not so much.
“There was a lot of pent-up energy from a lot of players,” Hurricanes forward Justin Williams said. “Months without playing a meaningful hockey game is tough for professional athletes. Both teams had a lot of intensity.”
The Canes posted a 2-0 lead into the second period before the Rangers managed to find some offense.
Petr Mrazek made 24 saves to backstop a 3-2 win for Carolina for 1-0 series lead.
“We’ve all had a lot of time to prepare for this game, so, I think the leadup to it, the guys were ready to play something for real,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Haven’t had that opportunity in a long, long time and just wanted to take advantage of it. So, I think the guys were really excited and grateful to play for something that meant something. I thought we had a good game and came out really strong.”
Jaccob Slavin and Sebastian Aho posted goals for the 2-0 lead.
“I don’t think we can take that many penalties and go deep in the playoffs doing that,” Slavin said. “Our penalty kill did a good job, but it just kills the momentum of the game. Our 5-on-5 game is where we succeed really well. We just have to stay out of the box. We got fortunate.”
Mika Zibanejad and Marc Staal were the Rangers’ goal scorers.
“I feel like they outcompeted us, really,” Zibanejad said. “We didn’t really click. I don’t think we were able to get on the same page. We had some OK chances, but we couldn’t establish a good power play and get some momentum from it.”
Martin Necas picked up the game winner in the third when his goal made it 3-1.
[WATCH: All Rangers vs. Hurricanes highlights]
Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves in the loss.
“I approached this camp to just be ready for anything, come well prepared, work hard and whatever they asked me to do I’ll be ready for it,” Lundqvist said. “Obviously, the plan was to play Igor. Last night, they told me I was going in. Things like that happen. I feel for Igor, and we’ll see what happens here in the next couple of days, but I’m just happy I got an opportunity.”
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