RALEIGH, N.C. – The Carolina Hurricanes came up short, losing 3-2 in a shootout to the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Rangers at PNC Arena on Saturday.
Elias Lindholm scored for Carolina while Anton Khudobin made 27 saves in the losing effort.
J.T. Miller and Jesper Fast were the goal scorers in regulation for New York, while Mats Zuccarello made the difference in the shootout.
Rangers goalkeeper Cam Talbot made 28 saves and earned his fifth win in his last six games.
“We gotta’ score, right?” Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters said.
“Dobby played well, he gave us a chance. We went 0-for in the shootout. We had a couple of good looks late in the third and then in OT, but it wasn’t meant to be this evening.”
New York came into the game having won 14 of the last 18 games and completed a season sweep of the Hurricanes, having won all five of the two teams’ games against one another.
Lindholm scored his 16th of the season with a slap shot that snuck through Talbot’s pads just two minutes into the game.
Hurricanes defenseman Danny Biega, who earned his first NHL point on the play, sent the breakout pass to Victor Rask, who then gained the New York zone to feed Lindholm along the right wing before he let the shot go that put the Hurricanes ahead 1-0.
Although Carolina maintained the lead for the entire first period, the Rangers held an 8-7 advantage in shots on goal.
It was a physical game, and part of the strategy that the Rangers utilized in trying to wear the Hurricanes down.
The stats sheet read that they outhit the Hurricanes by a 46-28 margin.
They also blocked 24 Carolina shot attempts, making it that much harder to get pucks past Talbot.
Thanks to Khudobin, who made his fourth consecutive start, Carolina also made New York work to earn every opportunity to score as well.
“Both teams had good looks,” Peters said.
“I thought we were better early and they took over the second half of the first period. Obviously, they controlled a majority of the second period and we had a really good answer in the third.”
Khudobin stopped every shot he faced in the first period, and did so as New York picked up its offensive pace.
After making a quick pad save on a Carl Hagelin shot during the opening minutes of the second period, the Rangers finally beat the Russian keeper.
On the ensuing faceoff, following an icing call against Carolina, J.T. Miller evened the score 1-1 at 3:39.
Zuccarello and Derek Brassard assisted on the play that started off the draw.
Fast later put the Rangers ahead 2-1 with 7:01 remaining in the period.
Streaking towards the Hurricanes goal, Fast got the centering pass from Kevin Hayes, who slid the puck over to him from the left sideboards.
From there, Fast spun around to his forehand and placed a wrist shot high over Khudobin’s trapper-side shoulder.
The Rangers dominated possession throughout the period and outshot the Hurricanes 14-5.
Thanks to Khudobin, Carolina still only trailed by a goal heading into the second intermission.
“For goalies, it’s always great playing more, and more, and more,” Khudobin said when referring to playing regularly.
“You feel the puck better and you’re not getting surprised by some chances or situations. You’re playing your game and you’re relaxed playing your game, rather than sitting on the bench for five straight and playing one game…It’s tougher. When you play in consecutive games, it’s easier – you feel the game more. You’re not surprised by any chances or moments. You’re playing the puck, you feel the puck, you feel what they’re gonna’ do.”
The Hurricanes began the third period with a flurry of opportunities to beat Talbot, but were unable to successfully connect on any of them.
Rask’s shot attempt from his off wing caught the Ranger keeper’s right pad, and flipped up towards the net, but fell just wide of the far post.
Talbot made a blocker save on Nathan Gerbe’s backhander three minutes later as Carolina aggressively worked to create opportunities to tie the game.
Rask had another chance to beat beat the netminder, but his backhand shot hit the post.
At the other end, Khudobin was just as sharp, and made a dynamic save on Dominic Moore.
Carolina continued to pepper Talbot, but he remained equal to the task at hand, turning away Ryan Murphy’s point shot with his blocker, and then stuffing Eric Staal’s shot attempt in close.
New York maintained the 2-1 lead into the final 10 minutes of regulation play.
The Hurricanes were afforded a power play opportunity with seven minutes to play as Hagelin was called for tripping.
They struggled to set the power play up effectively early on, and avoided falling two goals down as a Rick Nash shorthand attempt was thwarted by Khudobin.
Carolina’s efforts finally paid off as Murphy tied the score 2-2 with eight seconds remaining on the man-advantage.
Murphy’s second of the season came on a setup pass along the blue line from John-Michael Liles and Jordan Staal.
“In the third, we started moving pucks better,” Khudobin said.
“We started to find shooting lanes and tried to deliver pucks to the net, and we got rewarded.”
Both teams couldn’t score more in regulation time and headed to overtime play.
Zuccarello put a quick backhand attempt on Khudobin within the first 25 seconds, but couldn’t beat him.
The Rangers maintained much of the puck possession during the overtime period, putting two shots on net, but Khudobin and the Hurricanes countered successfully.
Matt Hunwick hit the post with under a minute to play as the Hurricanes couldn’t clear the puck out of their zone.
However, they survived New York’s final push and both teams headed to the shootout.
Talbot came out the victor in the goaltenders’ final duel as he stopped Lindholm, Riley Nash, and Jeff Skinner in succession.
Khudobin stopped Hayes, but Zuccarello’s backhand-to-forehand deke pulled him out of position enough to score the shootout-deciding goal.
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Boxscore – New York 3, Carolina 2
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