Trocheck's power play goal gives the Rangers a 4-3 victory over the Hurricanes in 2OT to take a 2-0 series lead

NEW YORK – Vincent Trocheck scored a power play goal off a rebound at 7:24 of the second overtime to give the New York Rangers a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes and a 2-0 lead in the second overtime on Tuesday night – Round-robin playoff series.

Alexis Lafreniere scored two goals, Chris Kreider also scored a power play goal and Artemi Panarin added two assists for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin stopped a season-high 54 shots.

The Rangers won for the sixth straight time in the postseason and eighth straight since the regular season. New York picked up its first overtime playoff win since Game 7 of the first round in 2022 against Pittsburgh.

Jake Guentzel scored two goals, Dmitry Orlov also scored a goal and Sebastian Aho had three assists for the Hurricanes. Frederik Andersen finished the game with 35 saves.

The Hurricanes have lost three of their last four games – including two in double overtime after winning the first three games of the first round. The Hurricanes have lost four straight playoff games in overtime, including two to Florida in the conference finals a year ago.

The series moves to Raleigh, North Carolina for the next two games, with Game 3 taking place on Thursday night.

Shesterkin saved a kick against Martin Necas 1 1/2 minutes into the second overtime and a pad save against Jordan Staal almost 30 seconds later. At the other end, Andersen brilliantly parried a shot from Panarin.

The Hurricanes, who finished 0-for-5 on the power play, had the advantage when Panarin was called for hooking at 3:28. They only managed one shot.

The Rangers then got their seventh power play of the night and Trocheck scored on a front rebound goal, extending his scoring streak to five games.

Shesterkin made good saves on attempts by Aho and Jaccob Slavin during a Hurricanes power play midway through the first overtime period.

Mika Zibanejad came into the game alone against Andersen, but his attempt was suppressed by the goalkeeper with 8:15 left. With about two minutes left, Lafreniere failed in a close-range attempt, and Zibanejad was stopped by Andersen in a 2-on-1 duel in the final minute of the first overtime period.

Kreider tied the game at 6:07 of the third period with the Rangers' third power play goal of the series to make it 3-3 against a Hurricanes team that had the league's best penalty kill this season.

Trocheck received a pass from Panarin in front, and Andersen parried his attempt with a kick. However, Kreider hit the loose puck from the left side while the goalie was down for the first time in the series and third time in the postseason. It was also Kreider's 43rd career postseason goal – the most in franchise history – and 70th point – third most behind Brian Leetch (89) and Mark Messier (80).

The Rangers got another power play when Jordan Martinook was ejected for tripping at 9:54. They managed two shots on goal while ahead, but the Hurricanes had an excellent shorthanded scoring opportunity when Shesterkin saved an attempt by Brady Skjei.

With just over five minutes remaining, Shesterkin also blocked an attempt from Skjei and then thwarted his rebound attempt.

The Rangers got their sixth power play of the night when Skjei was called for tripping with 1:38 left. However, the Hurricanes had the best chance when Shesterkin made a nice save on Seth Jarvis on a short-handed odd-man rush. Then the goalie – who had made 17 saves in the third period – parried a shot from Aho and a rebound attempt from Jalen Chatfield.

Trailing 2-1 after 20 minutes, the Rangers tied the score at 7:32 of the second when Lafreniere redirected a pass from Adam Fox on the second drive of the game. With the Hurricanes on the power play, Shesterkin converted a point shot from Brent Burns at 9:04 to keep the score tied.

Guentzel gave the Hurricanes their second lead of the night with a one-timer in the slot off a pass from Aho from the left corner with 1:42 left in the middle period. It was Guentzel's second of the night and gave Aho five assists in two games of the series.

Lafreniere received a pass from K'Andre Miller and fired from the left circle into the top left corner to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead with 9:07 left in the opening period.

The Hurricanes tied it with 4:53 left in the first when Guentzel converted a one-timer from Aho through traffic in his second playoff game.

The teams played four-on-four after Barclay Goodrow of the Rangers and Stefan Noesen of the Hurricanes were assessed penalties in the final minute of the opening period. The Hurricanes took advantage of the open ice when Orlov redirected Brady Skjei's point shot past Shesterkin with 5.4 seconds left to take the lead.

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