Rangers right at home, end Hurricanes' 11-game win streak
Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin (celebrates his game-tying goal against the Hurricanes with defenseman Ryan Lindgren during the third period at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Credit: Brad Penner
K’Andre Miller punched the air, made a face, and let out a yell after he saw the puck go in.
It had been a long night for Miller and his defense partner, Jacob Trouba, who’d been on for all of the Carolina Hurricanes goals Tuesday. But now, at 10:27 of the third period, Miller had managed to get his stick on Mika Zibanejad’s shot, and deflected it past Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov for what would be the decisive goal in the Rangers’ 5-3 win over the Metropolitan Division leaders at the Garden.
“Obviously you never want to go into a game minus-3… but that's hockey,’’ Miller said. “That happens sometimes. So I think (it’s about) having a short memory and trying to put it in the past and work for good plays and being reliable again.’’
The Rangers had trailed three times and had come from behind three times to find themselves deadlocked with Carolina, 3-3 midway through the third period. The Hurricanes were riding an 11-game winning streak and a 17-game point streak, and the Garden hadn’t exactly been a fortress for the Rangers, who had lost more games at home this season than they’d won.
But near the end of his shift, Miller kept a puck in the Carolina zone and skated with it to the right corner, where he sent a pass to Kaapo Kakko behind the net. As he saw Kakko send a pass to Zibanejad at the point, Miller did his best Chris Kreider impression and cut to the slot looking to make something happen.
“Mika was covering for one of us ‘D’ and I saw he was about to shoot and wind up,’’ Miller said. “So I thought, screen the goalie a little bit, try to get something on it. And luckily, I got a tip on it.’’
Filip Chytil added a power-play goal into an empty net with 1:02 remaining, and the Rangers (21-12-6) had started off 2023 with two straight wins, while handing Carolina (25-7-6) its first loss since Dec. 6 and its first regulation loss since Nov. 25.
Rangers coach Gerard Gallant conceded a win over the Hurricanes was one to savor.
“Yeah definitely,’’ he said. “Obviously they've been one of the hottest teams in the NHL the last number of games, and a top team in the league. And you know, we weren't perfect tonight . . . but it's a big win. It's a good game for us and we’ve got to continue to do that build off games like this.’’
Carolina, showing off their speed and quickness early, took the lead on a dirty goal by defenseman Brent Burns, who managed to get his stick on a loose puck in front of a crowd in front of goalie Igor Shesterkin (20 saves) and whack it off Miller’s skate and in at 7:24 of the first period.
The Rangers tied it with the first of three power-play goals at 16:26 of the period, when Trouba’s right point shot deflected off Carolina defenseman Jalen Chatfield and got behind Kochetkov. But the lead lasted 16 seconds, until Carolina’s leading scorer, Martin Necas, blasted a one-timer past Shesterkin for a 2-1 Hurricanes lead at 16:42.
The Rangers’ power play connected again to tie the score at 16:45 of the second period when Zibanejad sent a pass up the middle looking for ex-Carolina player Vincent Trocheck. Trocheck never caught up to the puck, but it fooled Kochetkov and slipped between his pads to make it 2-2.
But again, the Hurricanes untied the score in less than a minute, when Chatfield’s shot deflected off the stick of Chytil and by Shesterkin to make it 3-2, Carolina, at 17:14.
But the Rangers tied it 3-3 36 seconds into the period on an unlikely goal by Artemi Panarin, who flipped a wrist shot from the blue line through a crowd and saw it slip under Kochetkov’s left pad.
“The last two goals (I scored), I didn't see anything,’’ he said. “I just put it to the net, like Coach asked me. No look, just shoot.’’
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.
