Coming in on a four-game losing streak, the Carolina Hurricanes looked shaky before hosting a New York Rangers team that needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Instead of faltering, the Canes lit the lamp seven times en route to eliminating last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winners. The Rangers became just the fourth team since the Presidents’ Trophy was awarded to miss the playoffs the year after they won it.
It’s been a tale of which team will show up for the Hurricanes this season — the biggest factor being where they’re playing. At home, the Hurricanes have posted a record of 31-8-1, the most in the NHL and tied for the franchise record. Away from home ice, the Canes have a measly 16-19-4 record — the second fewest wins of any team in a current playoff spot.
In front of a Lenovo Center crowd with a mix of blue and red, the Canes (47-27-5) continued the trend in a 7-3 win over the Rangers (37-36-7). Center Seth Jarvis tallied a three-point night on each of the team’s first three goals, and was happy to return the favor to a Rangers team that has previously knocked them out of the playoffs.
“We’ve had a long history with them,” Jarvis said. “They’ve gotten the better of us a lot of times, so it is nice to knock them out.”
The first 40 minutes of the game were sheer dominance from the Hurricanes. Multiple extended shifts led to Carolina goals, as the Canes seemed to battle harder for loose pucks than the team on the verge of missing the playoffs.
The first of seven goals came from defenseman Jalen Chatfield 9:02 into the first when he snapped a shot from the blue line, bar-down. Jarvis then doubled up near the end of the period when he made good of a center Sebastian Aho pass from below the goal line.
Right wing Jackson Blake continued to impress as of late in his rookie season, scoring his sixth goal in the last eight games. Despite playing the first half of the season on the fourth line, Blake’s second period goal tied him with Jarvis for fifth-most goals by a Hurricanes rookie since relocation.
The Rangers had a chance to stop the bleeding halfway through the second, but left wing Artemi Panarin hit the post on a yawning net, surprising Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov, who froze, expecting a goal.
Adding salt to the wound, center Mark Jankowski netted his eighth goal in 16 games with the Canes 27 seconds later down at the other end. Panarin was less than pleased.
Assisting on the goal was left wing William Carrier, who made his return to the ice for the first time since Jan. 4. Despite missing the previous 39 games due to injury, Carrier, who watched from the press box, knew exactly who had the hot stick.
“There’s a 90% chance that if he’s in the slot, he is going to put it in,” Carrier said.
Carrier had missed nearly half the season due to a lower-body injury, but that didn’t stop him from throwing his weight around when he got back in the lineup. Carolina is notoriously not a physical team and despite his missed time, he is still second on the team in hits. Getting him back for the playoffs will be a big plus for the Hurricanes.
“For being out as long as he has, to come in, he was pretty impactful,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “… I thought that line was really good.”
The Rangers got a few goals back at the end of the second and early part of the third courtesy of left wing Will Cuylle, center J.T. Miller and defenseman Adam Fox. Center Jordan Staal split the first two Rangers goals with a flash of skill for his 13th goal of the year and left wing Jordan Martinook and center Logan Stankoven each added an empty-net goal to put the game firmly out of reach.
“[On] their final push there, we probably took our foot off the gas there a little bit but that’s kind of human nature,” Aho said. “Obviously we could be a bit sharper in some moments, but overall, pretty good.”
Fox’s goal to pull the game within two goals was up for dispute when the Hurricanes challenged for goaltender interference but were unsuccessful. Brind’Amour was less than enthusiastic during and after the game.
“That should have been an easy one but clearly it’s not,” Brind’Amour said in a post-game rant. “Obviously [it’s too subjective of a rule.]”
The Hurricanes have one more home game in the 2024-2025 season on Sunday when they take on the Atlantic Division leaders, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Puck drop is set for 5 p.m.
