As snow accumulated across the Raleigh area, PNC Arena became a winter wonderland for the Carolina Hurricanes as they dismantled the New York Rangers 6-3 on Friday, Jan. 21. Defenseman Tony DeAngelo’s third-period goal staved off a Rangers comeback and put an exclamation mark on an highlight-filled night.
The Canes (27-8-2) came into the game riding the momentum of a 7-1 shellacking of the Boston Bruins on Jan. 18, and they continued to light up the board against goaltender Alexandar Georgiev and the Rangers (26-11-4). Highlight-reel plays came early and often as Carolina and New York battled for the top spot in the Metropolitan division.
“You’re not going to dominate three periods in the NHL,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “It’s really hard to do. It was nice to see us get ahead and get the win.”
Early on, it looked like the Hurricanes would skewer another opponent in a blowout win. Centers Vincent Trocheck and Seth Jarvis each notched a goal in a first period that saw the Rangers held to just four shots. Right wing Jesper Fast, center Sebastian Aho and right wing Nino Niederreiter tacked their own names onto the scoresheet by the end of the second period, but New York avoided the shutout with a power-play goal by Mika Zibanejad that made it 3-1.
Much like the Canes in the first two periods, the Rangers came out with their guns blazing in the third. Chris Kreider scored another power play goal and Greg McKegg cut the lead to 5-3 just over a minute later. With his team’s lead suddenly cut in half, Brind’Amour immediately called timeout to rally his troops and finish the game.
DeAngelo eventually struck the finishing blow to secure the win for the Hurricanes. The two squads jostled for several minutes as New York tried to claw back into the game, but DeAngelo, already sporting two assists on the night, fired a pellet from point to put the game on ice. The final goal drew a mixed reaction from the crowd as home fans celebrated DeAngelo’s dagger, but the sizable and vocal away fans lamented their team’s demise against DeAngelo, who played four seasons with the Rangers before signing with Carolina.
“They made the game exciting,” DeAngelo said. “Obviously I would like to have a little more of our fans there. I know there was snow and stuff and there’s a lot of New York people are down here. But our fans pack the place.”
DeAngelo’s pair of assists proved instrumental to the win as well. Trocheck’s game-opener was engineered by DeAngelo’s shot from point that Trocheck was able to redirect on its way to the net. Fast’s goal early in the second period was also teed up by DeAngelo.
Not to be outdone, right wing Andrei Svechnikov also put on a passing clinic. Svechnikov was credited with a secondary assist on Trocheck’s goal before executing what was arguably the highlight of the night. With the puck in New York’s trapezoid, Svechnikov teased his trademark lacrosse shot, forcing the Rangers defense to clamp down on him. Those defensemen never recovered the puck, however, as Svech cleverly dished it to Niederreiter to give the Canes a 5-1 lead heading into the second intermission. To make the moment even more monumental, Svechnikov eclipsed 100 career assists on Niederreiter’s goal.
“He’s a super intelligent hockey player with the puck,” Brind’Amour said. “Everyone talks about his power forward game, but his ability to pass the puck is elite as well. He sees the ice really well. That goal tonight was a perfect example of it.”
Aho marked some career milestones in the game as well. In his 400th NHL game, Aho made it to 200 career assists on DeAngelo’s exclamation point goal and pulled off an impressive sweep-in shot while lying horizontal on the ice.
“It’s already my sixth year here, and it feels like I just got here,” Aho said. “It reminds me that you’ve just got to enjoy every day and live in the moment.”
Aho and the Canes will look to continue their run of form as they travel north to take on the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, Jan. 22. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
