In Raleigh, the New York Rangers made it 5-0 this post season when facing elimination from the playoffs on Monday night.
In Game 7 with the Hurricanes, the Rangers took a 6-2 win and move on to the Eastern Conference Final .
The turning point in the game came when Jacob Trouba laid out the Canes’ Seth Jarvis in the defensive zone. Jarvis left the ice but soon enough for the Hurricanes to take a too many men on the ice call.
“It was the same story. I thought we had a great first period,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They got the two power-play goals, and it was a killer because I really felt we were playing well. So that’s kind of the broken record on this one, this series.”
Jarvis did not return to the game.
Adam Fox scored early in the first period off a power play goal for a 1-0 lead, and Chris Kreider hit off the too any men penalty for a 2-0 lead in the first period.
“Our power play has come through for us all year, and these types of games you want it to, and it did,” Fox said.
Kreider scored on a deflection of of a shot-pass from Mika Zibanejad on the left win.
Igor Shesterkin made 36 saves in the Rangers win.
“We scored two quick goals, and this helped me so much,” Shesterkin said. “I felt a little shaky before the game, but when I go to the ice, I tried to forget about everything and tried to keep focused on the puck.”
In the middle frame, Ryan Strome scored off the left win rush to give New York a 3-0 lead.
Kreider scored his second of the game in the third period for a 4-0 lead to the Blueshirts.
“I think that’s how you win in the playoffs,” Kreider said. “It’s a team game, you need 20 guys pulling in the right direction, and we had that tonight. Obviously, having a good start helped, and I think special teams came through for us tonight in a pretty big spot, and our goaltender was once again our best player.”
Carolina got on the board in the third period to cut the Rangers lead to 4-1 when Vincent Trocheck scored. His strike came off the power play.
Carolina was 1-for-4 on the power play, New York was 2-for3.
Carolina had gone 7-0 at home during the playoffs before Monday night.
New York faces the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final.
“Obviously, they’re a great team. They won two Cups. Jon Cooper is a great coach, good friend of mine. It should be a good battle,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “It should be a fun series. We played them well in the regular season (3-0-0), which means nothing, but we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
The Rangers responded 41 seconds later when Filip Chytil struck for a 5-1 advantage.
“We were right there with these guys,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. “Anything can happen in Game 7, and obviously we’re on the wrong side this time. Did we want to get to Game 7? No. We had to find a way to sneak one (win) on the road, which we didn’t. Tonight was just some bounces, and everyone wasn’t quite there, including myself, and unfortunately we ended the season.”
By the time Max Domi scored with less than four minutes left on the clock, the game was a foregone conclusion. His strike made it 5-2.
Andrew Copp added a late empty net goal for the 6-2 final.
“We’re a resilient group in there. We’ve said it all year,” Fox said. “[We had] our backs against the wall five times now and we’ve come through all five. We definitely want to keep this momentum going into the next round.”
Game 1 of the Conference Final is Wednesday, in New York.
Antti Raanta got the start for the Hurricanes, he made 16 saves before the leaving the crease in the middle frame with an apparent leg injury. He surrendered two goals, both in the first period.
Pyotr Kochetkov made nine saves in relief.
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