Rangers connect on power play early, beat Hurricanes in Game 4 to even series
Frank Vatrano #77 of the Rangers celebrates his first period goal against the Carolina Hurricanes during Game Four of the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, May 24, 2022 Credit: Jim McIsaac
Before his team took the ice for Game 4 of their second-round playoff series Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden against the Carolina Hurricanes, Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said too much was being made about the nastiness that occurred at the end of Game 3 on Sunday.
“You know, it's not a big deal,’’ Gallant said. “Is there something going to happen tonight? It's not going to be from the other night if something happens, trust me. We're trying to win a hockey game to get back in the series.’’
Well, midway through the first period of a scoreless game, Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba skated over and threw a heavy body check on Max Domi, dropping him to the ice. Carolina forward Steven Lorentz came over and attacked Trouba, the two fought, and Lorentz was charged with an instigator penalty. On that power play the Rangers scored the game’s first goal, by Frank Vatrano.
They would add another goal before the first period was over, add a third in the second period, and ultimately finish a complete, two-way effort with a 4-1 victory over the Hurricanes, evening up the best-of-seven series, 2-2.
The series now returns to Raleigh, N.C. for Game 5 Thursday night at PNC Arena. Game 6 will be back in the Garden on Saturday, at a time to be announced.
It was Domi, the son of former Rangers enforcer Tie Domi, who had started all the trouble Sunday when he went after Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren at the end of Game 3 and the two fought after the game was over. The Rangers insisted Trouba’s hit on Domi was not retaliation for that, but merely a good, solid hit that ended up being a turning point in the game.
“It was a big hit, and obviously, kind of changed the course of the game a little bit, with them taking that penalty and us capitalizing,’’ said Andrew Copp, who set up Vatrano’s goal, and who would later score a goal of his own.
“We're not out there trying to ‘catch’ guys,’’ he said. “We're not trying to play stupid or anything like that. We're just trying to finish our checks when they're there, and play physical when we can, and make smart decisions. And at the end of the day, them taking the two minutes changed the course of the game.’’
Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who had been the biggest star of the 3-1 victory in Game 3, was brilliant again, making big saves (30 in total) and foiling the Hurricanes at every turn.
His first save of the game, at 1:13 of the opening period, saw him somehow spring over from right to left to take away what had looked like a wide-open back side of the net on Brett Pesce’s shot. It sparked the first “Igor! Igor!’’ chant of the night.
“It was the second shift for the game, he made that unbelievable save on the back door with his glove and you know, that's huge,’’ Gallant said of Shesterkin’s performance.
“Igor has been great so that he changes the game for sure,’’ Copp added. “That first save, when it went to [Sebastian] Aho to Pesce, that was elite, elite goaltending right there. That can be really deflating for a team.’’
The Rangers got an early power play opportunity when Seth Jarvis was sent off for tripping Vatrano at 4:25 of the first period, and the first power play unit zipped the puck around all over the offensive zone and peppered Carolina goalie Antti Ranta with four shots.
“That was incredible,’’ Gallant said. “Ranta made about four great saves on that power play. That's huge when you have a power play like that.’’
On the second power play, it was the second unit that scored, when Vatrano one-timed in Copp’s cross-ice pass for his third goal of the playoffs, at 13:31 of the first period.
Adam Fox, who had the secondary assist on Vatrano’s goal, scored the goal that made it 2-0, tipping in a shot by his defense partner Lindgren at 15:42.
The Rangers pushed the lead to 3-0 when Lindgren (two assists) fired a shot that Ranta, the one-time Ranger goalie, saved. But the puck dropped behind Ranta, and Zibanejad was there to sweep it in at 16:42 of the second period, his fifth goal of the playoffs.
Teuvo Teravainen broke Shesterkin’s shutout bid with his third goal of the playoffs at 6:33 of the third period, but Copp restored the three-goal lead when he finished a return feed from Ryan Strome to make it 4-1 at 11:10.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
