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Rangers vs Hurricanes: Rangers Come Up Scoreless In Game 2

The New York Rangers find themselves in a pretty tough spot as they dropped Game 2, and fell behind 2-0 in the series. In a complete role reversal, the Rangers were nonexistent for a majority of this game, and just never generated enough sustained pressure in the offensive zone. Antti Raanta had a pretty easy night in the crease for Carolina, and turned aside all 22 shots he faced.

1st Period

No scoring.

2nd Period

Brendan Smith (1) - Sebastian Aho (4) & Teuvo Teravainen (7) SHG - 15:54

The Rangers’ power play was a complete mess tonight in all aspects, and it came full circle late in the second period. Carolina was able to dominate the penalty kill, and at times it looked as if this was at even strength. A failed keep in by the Rangers resulted in a 2-on-1 rush the other way for Carolina, and they made no mistake. Brendan Smith joined the rush as the far side attacker, and buried the clean pass across the ice from Sebastian Aho. Igor Shesterkin never stood much of a chance once the puck slid across the crease and Carolina took the 1-0 lead.

3rd Period

Sebastian Aho (4) - Unassisted - 19:58

The Rangers pulled Shesterkin with just over two and a half to play, and honestly, it was probably the most amount of zone time they had all night. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to generate much of anything on the 6-on-5 and Carolina eventually iced the game with an empty-net goal.

After the way they played for the better part of Game 1, this was a colossal failure all around. The Rangers big guns were held off the scoresheet, and some didn’t even register more than a shot on goal, if that. It’s certainly going to be an uphill battle climbing out of a 2-0 hole against a strong Carolina team, but it’s not a series until the home team loses. If we’ve learned anything from this entire year, it’s that this team finds a way to right the ship. Hopefully that starts in Game 3.

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