Griffin Bryant
Carolina Hurricanes center Martin Necas takes the puck up the ice during the Hurricanes' home game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in PNC Arena on Sunday, March 5, 2023. The Canes beat the Lightning 6-0.
The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 on the road Tuesday, March 21, barely scraping by with the win after a huge shift in momentum at the start of the third period.
Coming off of an intense 5-4 overtime win against the Flyers on Saturday, March 18, the Canes were looking to build another long-term winning streak. Carolina center Sebastian Aho scored his third hat trick of the season on Saturday and the team looked to keep that momentum going against the Rangers.
The Hurricanes (46-15-8) last played their division rival Rangers (41-20-10) on Feb. 11, when New York came out on top with a dominating 6-2 win. The Rangers have gotten by with the win both times they previously faced Carolina this season, but the Hurricanes put a stop to a series sweep.
The first frame saw the first goal of the game, scored by New York center Tyler Motte. It would take another 33 minutes, including the whole second period, before another goal was scored by either team. The Carolina offense was unable to make any plays though as it closed the first period with only nine shots on goal compared to the Rangers’ 12.
Even though the second period saw no change on the scoreboard, there was a switch flipped within the Hurricanes offense. Right out of the gate, the team kept getting shots on goal and eventually worked their way to 15 in the period alone, while the Rangers couldn’t set anything in motion as they finished the period with five.
With a score of 1-0, both teams were looking to put some more pucks in the net in the third period. It was Carolina who struck first with a goal from defensemen Jalen Chatfield that tied the game up. Not even a minute later, the Rangers responded with a goal of their own, quickly taking the lead back.
It was the front lines of the Carolina offense who put this game away as a quick goal from right wing Stefan Noesen — his 11th of the season — tied the game up again. His teammate, right wing Teuvo Teravainen, finished the game with a goal to make the final score 3-2 in favor of the Hurricanes.
While both teams each got at least one power play, both went scoreless when on the man advantage. Carolina netminder Frederik Andersen saved an impressive 29 out of 31 shots, finishing the game with a save percentage of .935.
These two teams will travel back to Raleigh to play each other and finish out the series on Thursday, March 23. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.