The Rangers were looking to stay ahead of the Metropolitan Division, but that didn’t happen. The Hurricanes lead the Metropolitan Division after a 6-3 win. Here is how the game went down.
At the start of the first period, the Hurricanes and Rangers were pretty even having two shots on goal. As far as shots on goal and giveaways, the Canes had the advantage in both categories. The Hurricanes had 11 shots to the Rangers four and the Rangers gave the puck away eight times the Hurricanes four. The Rangers showed very little offense. Much of the game was played in their zone.
At 13:13, Vincent Trocheck (9) scored a PPG off a tip-in making it 1-0 Hurricanes. Jacob Trouba got a two-minute minor for slashing against Andrei Svechnikov. Former Ranger Tony DeAngelo (23) and Svechnikov (18) assisted on the goal.
The Hurricanes scored again at 17:21 off a wrist shot by Seth Jarvis (8). The Rangers’ Adam Fox went after the puck and tried defending against Sebastian Aho, but Aho’s defense was great. Aho got the puck and passed it through the Rangers’ defense to Jarvis.
The Rangers started hitting more and the Hurricanes had giving the puck up more totaling 12 giveaways to the Rangers’ 11. However, the scoring did not stop for the Canes as they took the wind out of the small surge the Rangers had after scoring their first goal.
Image Courtesy of James Guillory/USA TODAY Sports from eliteprospects.com
The Rangers didn’t get their feet moving or had any offense for a while, but at least it didn’t take 13 minutes for their first shot on goal like it did in the first period. The Canes made it 3-0 at 3:33 when former Ranger Jesper Fast (9) scored on a slap shot. Jordan Staal won the face-off against Kevin Rooney and DeAngelo (24) passes it to Fast who scored. Also assisting on the play was Steven Lorentz (3).
At 6:35, it seemed as if the Rangers had some life when Mika Zibanejad (15) got a PPG. Jesperi Kotkaniemi received a roughing penalty on Barclay Goodrow, which was served by Josh Leivo. Artemi Panarin (31) made a great pass to Zibanejad, who scored on a slap shot.
Just when the Rangers looked like they had something going, Aho (17) scored an unassisted goal on a wrist shot after battling with Dryden Hunt. Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev was trying his best as he stopped the initial shot, but couldn’t quite cover the loose puck. It was in the crease and Aho shot it in as he was down on the ice from the battle with Hunt.
The Hurricanes made it 5-1 late in the second on a wrist shot by Nino Niederreiter (11). An excellent pass from Svechnikov (19) to Niederreiter gave the Hurricanes a four-goal lead. Ian Cole (7) also assisted on the play.
The Rangers knew they needed to give it their all in order for a chance to win against the Hurricanes and being down 5-1. They got their game on early.
Chris Kreider (26) scored a PPG after Jarvis got a hooking minor on Panarin. Fox (36) shot the puck towards the net and Kreider got a piece of it, trying to tip it on, but it was saved by Frederik Andersen. Kreider then scored on the rebound on a wrist shot. Zibanejad (24) also assists on the play.
Greg McKegg (1) got his first goal of the season on a wrist shot. Ryan Reaves (7) had the initial shot and McKegg got the rebound. K’Andre Miller (6) also got an assist.
The Rangers were fighting throughout the entire third period, but DeAngelo (7) scored a PPG on a snapshot from the blue line. Georgiev was screened and never saw the shot as the Hurricanes take a 6-3 lead at 17:27 to end any chance of a Rangers come-back. Aho (25) and Trocheck (17) assisted on the goal.
The Rangers were dominated by many former Rangers such as DeAngelo and Jesper Fast. DeAngelo had one goal and two assists as the Hurricanes went on to tie the Rangers with 56 points, but they have four games at hand. Now, the Rangers are looking to bounce back as they play Saturday night against the Arizona Coyotes and try to regain the division lead. Watch the Rangers battle Coyotes at 7 p.m. ET to see if they take over the Metro.
Featured Image Courtesy of worldface.uk
You can “Like” The Game Haus on Facebook and “Follow” us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from great TGH writers like Tiona!
“From Our Haus to Yours“
