Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 27: New York Rangers take Game 7 in blowout 6-2 win
The Carolina Hurricanes lost their first game at home, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time, as despite another strong start for the team, goaltending and special teams were a big problem early on, taking them out of the game as the New York Rangers won in a 6-2 blowout in Game 7
Relying on goaltending and special teams isn’t a recommended recipe for success in hockey, but it seems like this game, and this series, will not be what bursts the Rangers’ bubble.
The game started the way a lot of this series has went. The Hurricanes were the more dominant team out of the gate, but some undisciplined plays gave the Rangers a couple opportunities on the power play, and they made no mistake, with Adam Fox and Chris Kreider scoring to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.
The Rangers kept adding to that lead, with goals from Ryan Strome and Kreider again, and it already seemed like the game was over. To make matters worse for the Canes, goaltender Antti Raanta hurt himself making an uncomfortable stretch late in the second period, and found himself out for the rest of the game.
Another look at the play that felled Raanta. Kochetkov in net for Canes. pic.twitter.com/qBdfx8d86E
— Alison (@AlisonL) May 31, 2022The Canes attempted to make it interesting in the third period, pressuring and even missing a wide open chance before Tony DeAngelo scored immediately after that to start a comeback.
Adam Fox saves a goal when Igor Shesterkin doesn't get back in time after playing the puck. While they don't score there, Carolina does seconds later. pic.twitter.com/Cxywzqu7Wu
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 31, 2022Or at least it seemed that way for 40 seconds, before a brutal bounce finds Filip Chytil all alone and he buries it to put it out of reach again.
Filip Chytil crushes any momentum the Hurricanes could have tried to built with a goal of his own. 5-1 #NYR pic.twitter.com/Dl1G6su891
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 31, 2022After that, Max Domi and Andrew Copp exchanged garbage time goals to bump the score up to 6-2, and that held as the final score. Igor Shesterkin was magnificent again, stopping 37 of 39 shots, while Mika Zibanejad quietly had a good night with three assists.
With the win, the New York Rangers will face the Tampa Bay Lightning, who swept the Florida Panthers in the second round, and will have had more than a week off by the time Game 1 begins. They move on to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2015, which also saw them play the Lightning. The Rangers lost that series in seven games.
For the Carolina Hurricanes, they head into the offseason with a bit over $20 million in cap space, although extensions will be needed for restricted free agents Martin Necas, Tony DeAngelo, and Ethan Bear. Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederreiter will also potentially be concerns for the Canes, depending on if they want to bring them back, as they are unrestricted free agents.