Ian Cole scored 3:12 into overtime to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 2-1 win against the New York Rangers in Game 1 of their second-round Eastern Conference playoff series on Wednesday in Raleigh, N.C.
Cole, who had two goals during the regular season, scored on a slap shot from the right point that hit the stick of New York defenseman Ryan Lindgren along the way to the net.
Sebastian Aho scored the tying goal late in regulation for Carolina, and Antti Raanta made 27 saves. The Hurricanes won the Metropolitan Division title by six points over the Rangers this season.
Filip Chytil scored early in the game and Igor Shesterkin made 24 saves for the Rangers, who have advanced past the first round for the first time since 2017.
The Hurricanes finally got a shot past Shesterkin with 2:23 left in the third period to tie the score 1-1.
Aho, who had hit the post 24 seconds earlier, drove to the net as he received a pass from Seth Jarvis. He cut in front of Shesterkin, who stuck out his right pad to stop Aho’s first attempt, but Aho pushed the puck into the net.
Chytil scored at 7:07 of the first period.
Shortly before the goal, the Hurricanes had dumped the puck in the New York zone. Shesterkin stopped the puck behind the net and sent it up the wall.
Carolina’s Vincent Trocheck and Tony DeAngelo were both along the wall, but neither could keep the puck in the New York zone before DeAngelo tried to pass it back to Jaccob Slavin in the neutral zone, where it was stolen by Alexis Lafreniere.
Lafreniere brought the puck down the left side before centering it to Chytil, who scored with a one-timer before Raanta could slide over.
The Rangers out-shot Carolina, 12-8, in the first period.
The Rangers were outshot 8-0 over the first 11:19 of the third, although Kaapo Kakko had two good chances to pad New York’s lead down the stretch.
The Hurricanes turned the puck over in the neutral zone, leading to a two-on-one, but Kakko stumbled as he shot the puck. He then missed an open net with 6:44 remaining.
Game 2 is set for Friday night, also in Raleigh.
–Field Level Media
