Carolina Hurricanes

Brendan Smith scored a shorthanded goal late in the second period while Antti Raanta finished with 21 saves to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New ...

Carolina improved to 6-0 at home in the playoffs and has a 2-0 lead for the second consecutive round. The Hurricanes had flirted with tallying a short-handed goal earlier in the game multiple times, including once when Teuvo Teravainen pinged the right post in the first period from the slot off a feed from Aho. It ended up foreshadowing the Hurricanes' breakthrough score, with Aho skating in on the right side to set up Smith for a one-timer from the left that cleanly zipped past Igor Shesterkin for the putaway with 4:06 left in the second. RALEIGH, N.C. -- Brendan Smith scored a shorthanded goal late in the second period while Antti Raanta finished with 21 saves to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 2-0 on Friday night, taking a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.

Brendan Smith had gone nine years since last finding the back of the net in the Stanley Cup playoffs. And Antti Raanta, well, he never had a postseason game ...

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Smith, who joined the Rangers during the 2016-17 season, was not in New York at Lundqvist's peak. But the Carolina defenseman, who scored the first goal in the ...

“Obviously [Benoit Allaire] in New York is one of the best in the league as a goalie coach and as a human being. As for the marveling over the narrative, he left that to his teammates. I was like, ‘This is the reason why he is the best goalie.’ He was always working, he was always trying to get better. Every year he was one of the best goalies. But he is a career backup — though one who has kept the Rangers scoreless for the last 116:05 of this series. Smith, who joined the Rangers during the 2016-17 season, was not in New York at Lundqvist’s peak.

The Hurricanes are cruising now in their series against the Rangers. Meanwhile, it's Connor McDavid vs. the Flames in the West.

But that goal coming off the board was out of McDavid’s control at that point. It was Daryl Sutter’s first challenge of the postseason, and it got the goal wiped off the board, protecting Calgary’s 3-1 lead. Nikita Zadorov tried to be physical and knock him off the puck, but the elite center stayed in control and played to his strengths with another skillful play. Things opened up a tick in the third, but … it was the second-most entertaining game of the night. The Oilers came to play in the third period after two frames of the Edmonton McDavids doing their best to even the series. Those two disallowed goals for the Oilers surely would have been a topic of conversation had they lost, especially after Mike Smith opened this game by conceding two early scores. Then, in the second, he set up a Leon Draisaitl scoring play that was called back and instantly responded with a goal of his own (we’ll get there). Those two points bring him up to six in this series and 20 points in nine playoff games. They gained the edge in expected goals over the Flames midway through the third, according to MoneyPuck. But by the third period, they didn’t just separate themselves but ran away with it. The final count was 9.13 expected goals for Edmonton to 3.51 for Calgary. What was the key? They might have gotten away with one in Game 1, but this felt like the tide turning in the right direction. Some combination of the Hurricanes’ penalty kill — four spotless outings, plus Smith’s goal — and another great game by Antti Raanta. He had 21 saves for his first career postseason shutout and has allowed a grand total of one goal through two games.

Carolina Hurricanes once had trouble beating New York Rangers. Now, several former Rangers are helping CVanes beat New York in NHL Stanley Cup playoffs.

Shesterkin has allowed three goals in two games against the Canes in the series. Aho added an empty-net goal in the final seconds or regulation to cap off a victory that has the Canes taking a 2-0 series lead to New York for Games 3 and 4. There was a time when the Hurricanes seemingly could not beat the Rangers, not very often. Igor Shesterkin now is the Rangers’ new goaltending star and perhaps an emerging superstar, a Vezina finalist this season at age 26. When Aho finished up and was leaving, the two shared a quick fist bump. It came shorthanded late in the second period.

Through two games, the Carolina Hurricanes are getting just enough offense while their defense is hardly giving the New York Rangers any time or space to ...

Artemi Panarin sent the Rangers into the second round when he scored the game-winner in overtime to beat Pittsburgh but has taken two shots on goal so far. I think that's the big thing," Smith said. We're going to Game 3 and grind away and hopefully find a way to win that game." "I'm happy with the way we've performed overall," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. The Hurricanes have won six of seven series when winning their first two home games. We just keep grinding our way out and that's what we're going to do.

Another former Rangers player, backup goaltender Antti Raanta notched his first career postseason shutout by making 21 saves for the Hurricanes. “I didn't feel ...

Which of their UFA’s will the New York Rangers be re-signing? Play well, play hard, we’ll find a way to get another win.” “You get your team prepared to play, you play as hard as you can and you hope you win these hockey games,” he said. We keep grinding our way out and that’s what we’re going to do.” There were several times that either Adam Fox, Mika Zibanejad, or Artemi Panarin could simply put the puck on net with Chris Kreider near the crease for a loose puck. We’re going to go home and work our way out of it,” Jacob Trouba said.