The New York Rangers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in overtime to take a commanding 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series.
After giving up a late goal in the third period, the Rangers scored just under two minutes into the extra frame when Artemi Panarin redirected a shot past Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov.
Jake Guentzel got the Hurricanes on the board in the first period by tipping in a Dimitri Orlov shot midway through the period. It was his 38th career playoff goal. Since his postseason debut in 2017, only four players have as many: Nathan MacKinnon (45), Brayden Point (42), Brad Marchand (40) and David Pastrnak (38).
Chris Kreider answered back in the second period on a shorthanded goal. With that goal, he became the ninth player to record multiple shorthanded playoff goals with the franchise – a list paced by Mark Messier (3).
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Alexis Lafreniere put the Rangers up 2-1 early in the third period, and the score stayed that way until late in the third period when the Hurricanes pulled the goaltender for an extra skater. Andre Svechnikov wristed a shot past Igor Shesterkin to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Chytil Returns
The Rangers got some reinforcements for Game 3. Filip Chytil returned to the lineup after missing 72 games of the regular season. He last suited up on Nov. 2, 2023, and only played 10 games before being ruled out for the rest of the campaign after a setback in January. After a career-high 22 goals and 45 points in 2022-23, mostly centering a “Kid Line” between Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, he was off to a good start with six assists in those 10 games.
With their overtime victory, the Rangers own an all-time record of 43-55 (.439) in playoff overtime, including 22-34 (.393) on the road. The Hurricanes franchise owns an all-time playoff overtime record of 30-21 (.588), including 16-10 (.615) at home.
The two teams will square off again on Saturday, May 11, at PNC Arena.