Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers and teammates celebrate a first period goal against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game One of the Second Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden.
Mika Zibanejad had two goals and an assist, Artemi Panarin also scored and the New York Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 on Sunday in Game 1 of their second-round series.
Vincent Trocheck had a goal and an assist, and Chris Kreider had two assists as the Rangers, playing for the first time since completing their first-round sweep of Washington one week earlier, won their seventh straight including the regular season.
Igor Shesterkin stopped 22 shots to become the third goalie in franchise history to open a postseason with five straight wins, joining Dave Kerr (1937) and Mike Richter (1994).
Jaccob Slavin, Martin Necas and Seth Jarvis each had a goal for Carolina, which last played Tuesday night when it finished its first-round win against the New York Islanders. Frederik Andersen finished with 19 saves.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night.
The Hurricanes had the second-best power play in the NHL during the season and the top penalty-killing unit. However, they went 0 for 5 with the advantage against a Rangers team that was third on the PK. New York was 2 for 2 on its power plays that totaled 23 seconds.
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Necas got in alone on Shesterkin early in the third period and quickly put it through the goalie's legs to pull the Hurricanes to 3-2 at 2:48.
Panarin beat Andersen from the left circle at 8:21 to restore the Rangers' two-goal lead. It was his third of the playoffs after finishing with a career-high 49 in the regular season.
Carolina pulled Andersen for an extra skater with 3 minutes to go, and Jarvis scored from the left side with 1:45 remaining.
Shesterkin made a glove save on Andrei Svechnikov with just under a minute remaining to preserve the Rangers' lead.
With the Rangers leading 3-1 after 20 minutes, the teams played a fast-paced second period in which the Rangers had a 10-6 advantage on shots.
Jacob Trouba was sent off for cross-checking 2 1/2 minutes into the second period. The Hurricanes got one shot on goal during the advantage. After the penalty expired, the Hurricanes' Jordan Staal had a breakaway but his attempt was gloved aside by Shesterkin.
The Hurricanes got another power play with 4:46 left in the period, but did not get a shot on goal during the advantage. Trocheck had a short-handed breakaway for the Rangers that was denied by Andersen.
Zibanejad got the Rangers on the scoreboard on the game's first shot on goal 2:46 into the game. Jack Roslovic skated around the back of the net and sent a pass in front and Zibanejad put it past Andersen.
Slavin tied it 1:02 later on the Hurricanes' first shot as he fired a shot from the left point that bounced and went over Shesterkin's right shoulder.
Carolina defenseman Brady Skjei sent a shot off the right post 20 seconds later.
The Hurricanes got the first power play of the day when Chris Kreider was sent off for boarding at 6:14. A little more than a minute later, Necas skated in on Shesterkin from the right side and hit the left post.
New York went on the power play midway through the period when former Ranger Tony DeAngelo was sent off for roughing.
New York needed just 9 seconds to take advantage as Kreider got the puck on the right doorstep and sent a no-look pass to the left to Zibanejad, who fired it in.
Carolina got another power play with 9:02 left in the first when Rangers rookie sensation Matt Rempe appeared to be bumped by Staal and fell back into Andersen.
The Rangers got their second power play with 3:46 remaining, and needed just 14 seconds to score as Trocheck backhanded the rebound of Zibanejad's shot in front past Andersen to make it 3-1. It was Trocheck's fourth of the playoffs and gave him a goal in four straight games and a point in five straight.
Zibanejad has an 11-game point streak, including the regular season, with five goals and 13 assists in the stretch. Roslovic extended his point streak to six games.
