Carolina 1-0

For the first two periods, the Rangers controlled the game. This will likely be the “easiest” game of the series and the Rangers didn’t get far enough ahead to secure a win.

For whatever reason, it took the Carolina Hurricanes a long time to show up. They looked slow and their offense wasn’t working towards anything. Whether it was all on their effort or the Rangers’ defensive preparation keeping them on lockdown, for most of the game it looked like the Rangers had a handle on the game. With a goal nearly halfway through the first period by Chytil with an assist from Lafrenière thanks to Tony DeAngelo handing over the puck, things were going in the right direction for the Rangers. That lead lasted until the last 2:30 of the game.

And that was the problem. Even with near-complete domination (the Rangers kept the Hurricanes to an absurdly low shot count) the team didn’t manage to get another goal. Each team hit the crossbar a few times but the Rangers bungled 2 open net chances. Kappo Kakko’s chance was the most egregious. A one-goal lead is nothing in this league–especially in the playoffs–and that’s what did them in.

Were the Rangers playing too conservatively? Not really, the shot count shows the effort. But the 3rd line was the only one constantly generating offense. With an obviously poor-performing Carolina team, the extra effort to bury them didn’t materialize. For the entire lead, the game felt like it was on a tight rope. One goal still meant it was anyone’s game. And the turn happened at the start of the 3rd period.

That’s when Carolina started putting their game back together. They controlled everything for at least half the period, almost keeping the Rangers from taking any shots on goal. The Rangers managed to get some ground back but a defensive hole appeared and Carolina took advantage of it. Igor stopped the first shot but the rebound went right back to Aho who got around him because Igor’s sliding momentum stopped and he couldn’t move any farther over to stop the tip in. No Ranger followed Aho in for defense. Then in overtime, a goofy shot bounced off of Ryan Lindgren and went in. A brutal ending that the Rangers really should have had. Hard to say if this dagger in the heart was worse than Game 1 against the Penguins.

But that’s hockey. The Rangers robbed Pittsburg a bunch of times. New York had at least 2 fluke own-teammate deflections (Miller’s 2-2 tieing goal in Game 7 being the most recent). The key is…you have to score more than once. More than one line needs to be effective. One benefit from last night, is the Rangers only had one penalty called on them. That’s an improvement from the last series conga line of penalty box visits. Carolina only had one as well but I think we can all expect this won’t last as the competition cranks up a notch in each of the following games.