RANGERS FACING ELIMINATION AS HURRICANES WIN 3-1 IN SERIES IN GAME 5- STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS.
Carolina, 0-9 on power play this series, overcame struggles in second period with goal by Teravainen.
The Carolina Hurricanes are just one game away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Finals after taking advantage of their perfect performance on home ice Thursday night to defeat the New York Rangers, 3-1.
Carolina pushed the Rangers to the brink of elimination after a gritty second-round Game 5 performance where the Canes set the tempo for much of the night and finally made some noise on the power play.
“When you can get a shorthanded goal early it’s big because it takes life out of their power play,” centre Seth Jarvis said. “For the power play, it’s great for our confidence. It’s nice to get one early and quick. That was huge for us. Teuvo made a world-class shot; high, bar down, short-side, can’t ask for much more.”
After Vincent Trocheck buried a shorthanded goal to get the Canes on the board first, Teuvo Teravainen finally broke through Carolina’s power play struggles with a goal halfway through the second period. The Canes were 0-9 on the power play heading into Thursday night’s game.
“It was kind of the game that I’ve been waiting for,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We’ve been playing OK, but tonight was good all the way around – more obviously how we want to play.”
Despite the Rangers not being able to make much happen offensively, the team’s real star was Igor Shesterkin, who made 31 saves and has no doubt been able to handle the pressure of this series well.
“I feel no pressure as a player,” Shesterkin said recently through an interpreter. “I do understand the gravity of the situation. This city, this team definitely deserves a Cup and we’re giving our best to try to make that happen.”
The 26-year-old Russian goaltender led the league with a 2.07 goals-against average and .935 save percentage to help the Rangers reach the playoffs. And, when New York was trailing 0-2 against the Canes, he managed to shut out 73 of 75 shots to even the series.
“We’ve got to win one game,” Chris Kreider said. “That’s our focus. It’s a little cliché, but there are a lot of things we can take from that game and do a better job of. Learn from that and win one game. Win the first shift, win the first period and go from there.”
Game 6 will head back to New York. Both teams have won all their games on home ice in this series.
