The Carolina Hurricanes are 9-10-5 this season and must be the most difficult sub-.500 team in the NHL. On Saturday afternoon, the New York Rangers needed two late goals from Chris Kreider to finish off the Canes, 4-2.
The win gave the Rangers an 8-0-1 record after a loss; they lost to the Buffalo Sabres Thursday in a dismal late effort that saw them yield the lead.
Goalie Henrik Lundqvist (#30) – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“If you want to be in the race, that’s what you have to do, really push yourself after a loss and try to come back with a better performance personally and as a group,” Henrik Lundqvist said. “You can’t afford to get stuck in losing ways. The race is too tight.”
Lundqvist made 26 saves for the win.
The Rangers have been “struggling” scoring goals of late and production from across the bench has thinned.
But Saturday had Kreider breaking out of a slump though he has been hobbled with a lower body injury.
Kreider’s linemates also kicked on the scoresheet with Derek Stepan picking up a goal and two assists and Mats Zuccarello adding two assists in the win.
“That whole line, after the second period they [were on the ice] for most of our [12] shots except for four,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “They spent a great deal of time in the other team’s end playing against their top line. They had one of their best [games] in a long time and hopefully that’s the start of a trend here moving forward.”
Michael Grabner scored for New York, his 13th on the campaign.
The Hurricanes started Michael Leighton in goal who made 19 saves in the loss.
WATCH: All Hurricanes vs. Rangers highlights
“We’re sort of beyond the moral victories. We need to start producing wins,” Carolina’s Lee Stempniak said of the Canes losing despite the efforts.
Viktor Stalberg and Victor Rask were the Canes goal scorers.
“You’ve got to get hungry to score,” Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. “You can’t be content to just play well. And you need offensive contributions out of your top six. That’s the reality.
“Three [goals] is the magic number. You’ve got to be able to get to three.”
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