In New York, the Rangers needed big games from everyone on the bench, and they got it in a 3-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 on Sunday afternoon.
The win leaves the Rangers trailing 1-2 in the series.
Game 4 is set for New York on Tuesday.
Igor Shesterkin made 43 saves in the win.
“We felt like we were going to win the hockey game tonight,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “Our goalie was outstanding in the first half of the game. Made some big, key saves for us, but I thought we played well enough to win.”
New York limited the Canes to eight shots on goal in the third period.
“It’s a good thing that they [took] so many shots,” Shesterkin said. “They really were just trying to shoot from everywhere, trying to feel out the game. But none of those shots were really dangerous.”
New York broke a scoreless streak of 127+ minutes when Mika Zibanejad hit for a power play goal in the first period.
“I think we played, finally, (a full) 60 minutes,” Rangers forward Filip Chytil said. “In the first two periods, we played how we wanted to play. In the third period, we didn’t back off like the first game and I think the win was deserved.”
Chris Kreider extended the Rangers advantage to 2-0 in the second period.
“We had a good start (tonight),” Kreider said. “Shored up some of the details that weren’t necessarily there the first couple of games. … It was a 20-man effort tonight.”
His goal came from a sharp angle near the goal line.
Nino Niederreiter cut the Rangers lead in half with a goal in the middle frame.
“I did try to see if somebody was coming down from the far side, but at the end of the day, I came close to the net and felt like I was trying to go short side and I’m glad it went in,” Niederreiter said.
Tyler Motte added an empty net goal with 83 seconds left in regulation for the 3-1 final.
“Our guys battled hard,” Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. “Put a lot of shots on net. Had a lot of good opportunities. At the end of the day, it’s not good enough. Got to do better on the kill, got to do better on the power play.”
Antti Raanta made 30 saves in the Canes loss.
“[Games] all kind of [stink] if you don’t win it, but I think overall we definitely had our opportunities to win the game. … I would take that game most nights to be quite honest with you,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “… I’m assuming we had pretty good opportunities, Grade-A’s. … We didn’t capitalize on the power play, we needed to, and they did.”
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