In Raleigh, the New York Rangers’ Alexandar Georgiev made 44 saves on Sunday night in a 2-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
“It felt pretty great,” Georgiev said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a game like that, where it’s been not a lot of goals in a tight game until the end. I tried to enjoy that and be in the moment.”
Chris Kreider hit for a goal in the middle frame off a tip-in to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead, ot was his 41st goal of the season.
“We’re lucky today,” New York coach Gerard Gallant said. “I’d like to say we came in here and played a great game, but last night was a great game. Tonight was a great goaltender who was unbelievable. We were a tired hockey team. They were all over us. They dominated, but we found a way to get two points.”
New York arrived at 2am local time after defeating the Tampa Bay Lighting, 2-1, on Saturday evening.
“That was probably one of our better games all year,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Their goalie played great. That’s end of story. Everything we wanted to do, for the most part, we did. We just didn’t get rewarded tonight.
“Everyone is working so hard, and you should be rewarded more for that. I think it will work itself out as we keep going, but you can’t change what we’re doing.”
The Rangers improved to 40-18-5.
“Today was probably one of my worst days on the bench,” Gallant said. “I’m trying to push. In my mind, I know they’re tired, but I’m not going to give in. It was 60 minutes, and that’s their job. I love our guys. We competed hard, but there wasn’t a lot in the tank today.”
Frank Vatrano hit for an empty-net goal with less than a minute left on the regulation clock to seal the win.
“That room is a bunch of will and knowing what it takes to win,” Vatrano said. “I’ve paid close attention to them and played against them a bunch. They’re a hard team to play against. They have a great mix of everyone in this lineup. I’m happy to be here and be a part of it and help this team win.”
The Canes dropped to 41-15-6.
Frederik Andersen made 16 saves in the Canes loss.
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