Hurricanes push Rangers to the brink of elimination
Entering Thursday's Game 5 in Raleigh, the Carolina Hurricanes were undefeated at home. On the flip side, they remain winless on the road. Carrying all of the momentum into a possible swing game in the series, the Rangers looked to change that narrative and head back home with a series lead.
Early in the game, Carolina carried most of the momentum outshooting New York 11-5 in the first period. Ironically, both goals in the first came via Hurricanes' penalties.
Following an Andrei Svechnikov penalty, Vincent Trochek notched a shorthanded goal for the home team on a beautiful rainbow sauce pass from Jordan Staal. The two-on-one rush materialized on a zone entry turnover from Jacob Trouba.
Defenseman Ian Cole took light cross-checking penalty on Jacob Trouba, giving the Rangers another powerplay. The Canes bench and home crowd were quite displease about the call on the ice.
On the ensuing man advantage, Mika Zibanejad sent a one-timer past Antti Raanta.
Ryan Strome appeared to have put the Blueshirts up 2-1 in the second period, before Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour challenged for offside. The goal was overturned and the game remained even at one a piece.
Igor Shesterkin did not wait long to make his presence felt in the game. The Vezina finalist robbed Jordan Martinook with a flashy glove save on a deflection.
Following the Rangers' first penalty of the game (hooking - Frank Vatrano), Teuvo Teravainen scored on the man advantage, putting the Canes up 2-1.
On the defensive end, Canes' rookie Seth Jarvis reminded everyone of the sacrifice that playoff hockey sometimes requires. He took a follow through stick to the face, and left the game bleeding from his mouth (he returned minutes later).
Late in the third period, Svechnikov added an insurance goal for the Caniacs on a breakaway, tucking it five hole on Shesterkin.
The Hurricanes streak of home wins continues with seven. Perhaps we are just destined to have a seven-game series with their inability to win a road game this year. The Canes have never lost a best-of-7 series after leading 3-2. Game 6 will be at Madison Square Garden Saturday night. The Rangers hope to bounce back and even the series once again. Can they force a decisive Game 7?
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Patrick Maroon | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Lukas Reichel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Travis Konecny | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Anze Kopitar | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Quinton Byfield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Noah Cates | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sean Couturier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Marcus Johansson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Adrian Kempe | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Matvei Michkov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Martin Pospisil | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kevin Rooney | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Matthew Boldy | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bobby Brink | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kevin Fiala | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tyson Foerster | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nazem Kadri | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Justin Kirkland | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Daniil Miromanov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||