The New York Rangers did it once more on Thursday evening, beating the Carolina Hurricanes in additional time, 3-2, for the second consecutive recreation. They now have a commanding 3-0 sequence lead and stay excellent within the playoffs with a 7-0 document by means of the primary two rounds.
Artemi Panarin scored the game-winning aim simply two minutes into additional time.
Let’s check out three causes for his or her continued success.
1. Igor Shesterkin is the most effective participant on the ice each evening
Goaltending modifications the whole lot within the playoffs, and proper now, there may be no person higher within the NHL than the Rangers’ Shesterkin.
Thursday’s recreation was the thirtieth consecutive playoff recreation the place he has allowed three objectives or fewer, and he utterly shut down the Hurricanes for a 3rd straight recreation by stopping 45 out of 47 pictures. That offers him a .934 save share within the postseason, elevating his profession postseason save share over .930 for his profession.
Only for comparisons sake, the NHL common league save share the previous two seasons has been round .905. He’s not solely the most effective goalie within the league proper now; he’s a whole game-changer.
2. The Rangers particular groups stay dominant
The Rangers are usually not all the time the most effective or best five-on-five workforce, and so they have truly been outscored at even-strength on this sequence. However their particular groups have been downright dominant and have utterly flipped this sequence of their favor.
The Rangers have already scored 4 power-play objectives within the first three video games, whereas additionally they added a short-handed aim on Thursday evening to tie the sport within the second interval.