Igor Shesterkin made 43 saves as the New York Rangers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Madison Square Garden.
"We felt like we were going to win the hockey game tonight", New York head coach Gerard Gallant said. "Our goalie was outstanding in the first half of the game.
"Made some big, key saves for us, but I thought we played well enough to win."
Shesterkin made 35 saves through the first two periods, and Carolina had 17 shot attempts blocked and another 14 missed the net in the game.
"It's a good thing that they [took] so many shots", he said through a translator. "They were really just trying to shoot from everywhere, trying to feel out the game. But none of those shots were really dangerous."
Mika Zibaneajad had a goal and an assist, and Chris Kreider scored his sixth goal of the playoffs for the Rangers.
"We had a good start tonight", Kreider said. "Shored up some of the necessary details that weren't necessarily there the first couple of games. ... It was a 20-man effort tonight."
Nino Neiderreiter scored, and Antti Raanta made 30 saves for the Hurricanes, who are 0-4 on the road in the playoffs and 6-0 at home.
"[Games] all kind of [stink] if you don't win it, but I think overall we definitely had our opportunities to win the game. ... I would take that game most nights to be quite honest with you", said coach Rod Brind'Amour.
"I'm assuming we had pretty good opportunities, Grade A's. ... We didn't capitalize on the power play, we needed to, and they did."
The Hurricanes were 0-for-3 on the power play with seven shots on goal. The Rangers were 1-for-2.
Story of the game
Zibanejad opened the scoring as he beat Raanta with a shot from the left circle after taking a pass from Artemi Panarin, New York's first goal in 127:59.
Kreider made it 2-0 less than six minutes into the second period, scoring top shelf from the left circle after carrying the puck out from behind the net.
"I think, we played, finally, (a full) 60 minutes", said forward Filip Chytil. "In the first two periods, we played how we wanted to play. In the third period, we didn't back off like the first game and I think the win was deserved."
Neiderrieter made it a one-goal game, scoring on a backhand from the right circle.
"I did try to see if somebody was coming down from the far side, but at the end of the day, I came close to the net and felt like I was trying to go short side and i'm glad it went in", he said.
Taylor Motte scored into an empty net with 1:23 left to provide the final margin.
"Our guys battled hard", Hurricanes defenseman Jacob Slavin said. "Put a lot of shots on net. Had a lot of good opportunities. At the end of the day, it's not good enough. Got to do better on the kill, got to do better on the power play."