In Raleigh, Artemi Panarin scored a natural hat trick on Saturday night, and then added a fourth goal in a 6-2 win for the New York Rangers over the Hurricanes.
“Four goals, first time in my life,” Panarin said. “If I knew how to explain that, I [would] explain. I don’t know what happened tonight, so it’s probably my day tonight. Everything [went] in. It’s a surprise. Sometimes when I feel something, it’s zero points.”
The win extended the Rangers current streak to five games, they are 6-01 in their last seven.
The loss snapped the Canes point streak at 10.
Mika Zibanejad scored off the power play in the first period to give New York a 1-0 lead.
Jaroslav Halak, who has found his game for the Rangers, made 27 saves in the win.
“He was great,” Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba said. “He made some big saves at key times. He helped the defense a lot stopping pucks behind the net, moving the puck. That’s a big help for us. He’s been great.”
New York improved to 31-14-8.
“I loved the game. We played a good game against a real good team over there,” New York coach Gerard Gallant said. “They’re one of the best teams in the NHL. They dump a lot of pucks, they put a lot of pressure on you, and they got some good chances.”
The second period was a test for the Rangers who surrendered the lead on two Carolina goals from Teuvo Teravainen and Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
But Panarin tied the game for the Rangers, 2-2, before the end of the middle frame.
“The tying goal late in the second, that was a tough one,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We had full possession, there was no stress on us. We turned it over to the wrong player, it’s in the back of your net. [Panarin] is world class for a reason. He was the difference tonight, that’s for sure.”
The Hurricanes dropped to 34-10-8.
“I was actually surprised how well we played at the start. We were really sharp,” Brind’Amour said. “We needed to get more out of the [first] two periods.”
In the third, Panarin hit for two goals giving the Ranges a 4-2 lead, and his hat trick.
Gallant shifted the lines for being “stale” as he said after the game.
“I’ve felt like I’ve played [on a line] with everybody on this team at one point or another,” New York’s Vincent Trocheck (two assists) said. “There’s no time where I’m going to be disappointed or upset. Everybody on this team has the ability to play great hockey.”
Kaapo Kakko scored into an empty net with under three minutes left to extend the lead. It was another goal for the Kid Line, with Alexis Lafreniere adding an assist to the goal.
Panarin then added his fourth of the night with 64 seconds left in the game for the 6-2 final.
Frederik Andersen made 13 saves in the Carolina loss.
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