Rangers storm past Hurricanes to force Game 7 in Carolina

All the Rangers need is one win in Raleigh, N.C.

The Rangers staved off elimination Saturday night for a fourth time this postseason with a 5-2 win over the Hurricanes in Game 6 in front of a lively Madison Square Garden. Now, one victory on the road in this second-round Stanley Cup playoff series is all that separates the Rangers from advancing to the Eastern Conference final for the first time in seven years

The Bruins couldn’t win once at PNC Arena, as the Hurricanes went 4-0 on home ice in their first-round series triumph, which also went seven games. The Rangers haven’t been able to win in Raleigh either, in their three tries so far in this series.

But the Rangers will have to be the first team to topple the Hurricanes in their house this postseason in order to earn the chance to avenge their 2015 conference final loss to the Lightning.

“We have to play how we play at home, I don’t know what the difference is for us to play on the road,” said Filip Chytil, who was reunited with his fellow Kid Line members, Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, and scored twice in Game 6. “Even with the first series, we found a way to win in Pittsburgh. So it’s a Game 7 now. We have to find a way to win the game and just play how we play at home.

“They have the fans, they have the building where they’re getting used to [winning], but we have to play hard. We have to play our game and just don’t focus on any other things, just focus on the game and I think we can win the game.”

The Rangers were a team on a mission from puck drop and the Garden crowd reveled in it. When Barclay Goodrow shockingly came out for pregame warmups and was ultimately announced as a starter (the utility forward had missed the previous 11 games with a suspected ankle fracture), the cheers roared through the arena. It was easily the loudest the building had been all season long.

There were six goals scored through the first two periods Saturday, more than in any other individual game in this series. In addition to Chytil’s pair, Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin each scored on the power play and Tyler Motte helped set the tone early with one of the club’s two first-period tallies, as the Rangers extended Carolina’s losing streak in road games this postseason to a jarring six straight.

Oh, and goalie Igor Shesterkin was brilliant with a head-turning stat line of 37 saves, two assists and two penalty minutes in his seventh playoff win. He became just the second goalie in Stanley Cup playoff history to record two assists and a penalty in the same game, joining Tom Barrasso, who did it in 1993 with the Penguins.

“Honestly, it’s always great to have a goalie whose next step is only to just start scoring goals,” said Panarin, who emphatically pumped his fist in the air after netting his first goal of the series on the power play to cap the scoring at 7:43 of the third period.

Despite trailing 2-0 at the start of the second period, the Hurricanes were able to respond to each of Chytil’s two goals for the Rangers in that middle frame.

After the Czech winger sniped one from the right circle early in the period, former Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei got the Hurricanes on the board off the rush roughly a minute and a half later. Chytil then went bar down with a filthy backhander to make it 4-1 at 6:47 of the second. Vincent Trocheck, however, later cleaned up a rebound to pull Carolina within two heading into the second intermission.

Shesterkin and the Rangers were locked in from start to finish. They’ll have to channel that same determination in a Memorial Day showdown in Game 7. The level of competition, tenacity and sheer will to win that they’ve displayed on home ice will have to come through on the road — the Rangers’ season depends on it.

“I think the key is probably to try to play like today,” Panarin said. “We have to play a very disciplined game, although it is probably hard to say. We’ll just have to show our best offense and best defense.”