Rangers pushed to the brink after losing Game 5 in Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. — Even before they won two straight games in Madison Square Garden to tie their second-round playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-2, the Rangers always knew that if they were to win the series and advance to the Eastern Conference final, they would have to win at least one game in Carolina, where the Hurricanes have not lost in this postseason.

Now, if they are to win this series, they are going to have to beat the Hurricanes on their home ice in Game 7, because they never came close to pulling off the feat in Game 5 Thursday.

Teuvo Teravainen’s power-play goal midway through the second period proved to be the game-winner in the Hurricanes’ 3-1 victory that gave them a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series and pushed the Rangers to the brink of elimination for the fourth time in these playoffs.

Before they get to a Game 7, however, the Rangers must first win Game 6, which will be at the Garden on Saturday. Game 7, if necessary, would be back in Raleigh on Monday.

Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said his team played its worst game of the series in Game 5. He said the Blueshirts looked “tired.’’

“I didn’t think we played our game at all,’’ Gallant said. “I thought we were reaching with sticks all night, instead of finishing checks with the body like we did the other nights . . . To me, it was the worst game in the five games so far in this series. You know, [Carolina] pretty well dominated that game tonight.

“We’ve got to win one game in here to win this series,’’ he said. “So hopefully that’s Game 7. But we’ve got to be better than we were tonight. Again, we weren’t quick enough; we weren’t strong enough.’’

Carolina, which outshot the Rangers 34-17, took the lead on a shorthanded goal by Vincent Trocheck at 12:57 of the first period, with Andrei Svechnikov sitting out an interference penalty. Rangers point man Jacob Trouba fumbled the puck and lost it at the Carolina blue line, sending Jordan Staal and Trocheck away on a two-on-one break. Staal lifted a saucer pass over a sliding K'Andre Miller right on the stick of Trocheck, who scored Carolina’s second shorthanded goal of the series.

But Trouba, who was booed by the crowd early in the game after his hit on Max Domi in Game 4 had prompted Steven Lorentz to fight Trouba in retaliation, and take a costly instigator penalty, drew another bad retaliatory penalty by Carolina, this one from Ian Cole, who cross-checked Trouba after Trouba tried to body check him and missed.

Mika Zibanejad hammered home a one-timer off a pass from Artemi Panarin six seconds into the ensuing power play to tie it 1-1 at 17:06 of the period. Zibanejad has scored in three straight games.

Ryan Strome appeared to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead when he corralled a loose puck in the slot, wheeled, and fired a wrist shot through the legs of a sliding Antti Raanta at 4:47 of the second period, but Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour challenged the play, alleging there had been an offside on the Rangers prior to the goal. Video review confirmed that Andrew Copp had not cleared the zone before Strome brought the puck across the blue line, and the goal was disallowed.

The Hurricanes seemed to gain life after that and began to outplay the Rangers, dominating possession and pinning the Rangers in their zone often. They would take the lead on Teravainen’s goal at 9:47, the first power-play goal of the series by the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes outshot the Rangers 21-10 through the first two periods, plus they hit the goalpost three times. Still the Rangers were within one goal and still in the game until Svechnikov scored on a breakaway against Igor Shesterkin (31 saves) with 6:59 remaining in the game.

Chris Kreider, whose tap-in attempt on a pass from Trouba with 7:40 remaining was repelled by Carolina goalie Antti Raanta, was asked if the Rangers passed up opportunities to shoot the puck at Raanta.

“That’s something we talk about a lot is getting pucks on goal, getting pucks and bodies on goal and trying to get the inside,’’ Kreider said. “So anytime you have less than 20 shots I think that’s there’s probably moments where you could have shot the puck.’’

Strome preferred to focus on the positive. The Rangers, who trailed the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 in their first round series before rallying to win, have been behind before.

“The way I look at it we've played a lot of must win games lately, and we've done a pretty good job,’’ Strome said. “We seem to like being in this position a little bit and we've put ourselves there a few times so far. And you know, we're looking to do what we've done before.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

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.