The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New York Rangers, 4-3, Thursday night in Raleigh, in what was a back-and-forth game, full of emotions, and one that former Canes captain Eric Staal and fans alike will remember forever.
Eric Staal walked into PNC Arena just like he had previously done 909 times before; only this time was his first in the visitors locker room as a member of the New York Rangers.
“Tonight was for Eric Staal,” Carolina head coach Bill Peters. “I thought the video tribute was outstanding. I thought the response he got from our crowd, and our fans, and his fans was outstanding, well deserved and earned.”
If the Hurricanes missed their former captain, they certainly didn’t show it out on the ice in the first period. Carolina dominated early on, and for almost all of the first period, throwing seven shots on New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist before the Rangers registered a shot of their own.
The Blueshirt with his team’s first shot of the game? Eric Staal — who had as beautiful of a point-blank chance you will ever see, but was robbed 1-on-1 by former teammate of 11 seasons, Carolina netminder Cam Ward.
The Canes jumped on the board when a routine dump-in into the offensive zone by forward Jeff Skinner, bounced off the glass in the corner and landed perfectly in the slot, where forward Patrick Brown ripped it past Lundqvist for his first-career NHL goal.
“It was a great feeling,” Brown said. “Skins made a great play there. I was able to beat the D, coming off the bench, and snuck it by him.”
Carolina continued its strong opening frame, spending the majority of it in the Rangers zone, before New York finally created some offensive pressure of its own in the final minute of the period. Despite the Rangers late surge, the Canes took a 13-4 shot advantage and a 1-0 lead to the intermission.
“I thought we started on time. I thought we had a real good first period, and we were the better team early.,” Peters said “I thought they took over in the second.”
The Rangers came out in the second period, looking like a completely different team, scoring two goals in the first 5:03 to take the lead.
The first goal came courtesy of forward Mats Zuccarello — his 25th of the year — on a pass from forward Derek Stepan that just missed the outstretched stick of Canes defenseman Jaccob Slavin. Forward Rick Nash ran through Carolina defenseman Brett Pesce on his way to beating Ward glove high, on the second goal.
After developing little to no offense for the first half of the second, the Canes finally got some shots on net, and defenseman Justin Faulk, after beginning the season on a tear offensively, scored only his second goal since Dec. 27 to tie the game at two apiece. Forward Sergey Tolchinsky, making his NHL debut, scored his first-career NHL point with an assist on the play.
“I think it was a good first game for me,” Tolchinsky said. “I was kinda nervous so I (had to) make sure I’m not turning over the puck, and play smart defensively.”
With just two minutes and change remaining in the second, New York forward Chris Kreider beat Pesce in a race to the puck, and scored a power-play goal to retake the lead.
4:22 into the third, the Canes tied it again on Skinner’s 27th goal of the year, a tip-in of defenseman Ryan Murphy’s slap shot from just inside the blue line. Brown registered the secondary assist on the play, giving him his first two-point game of his career in only his fourth NHL game.
Five minutes later, Carolina utilized excellent puck movement on a power play, and was rewarded with what ended up being the game-winning goal. Faulk put another of his patented slap shots on net, only this time it was saved by Lundqvist, but the rebound found forward Victor Rask, who put it into the net.
The Rangers pushed hard for an equalizer down the stretch, but the Canes found a way to hold on against a Rangers team heading to the playoffs in a couple weeks.
“This team continues to grow, and develop, and mature, and figure it out,” Peters said. “The growth amongst our group from training camp till now has been very good.”
