(Raleigh) Ian Cole played heroes in overtime and the Carolina Hurricanes came from behind to defeat the New York Rangers 2-1 on Wednesday.
Posted at 10:05 p.m.
The North Carolina squad took the series lead 1-0.
Sebastian Aho helped the Hurricanes force overtime when he scored with less than four minutes left in the third period.
Filip Chytil was Rangers’ only goalscorer.
Antti Raanta stopped 28 shots.
Igor Shesterkin stopped 24 shots.
Game 2 of the series will take place on Friday, again in North Carolina. The series heads to the Big Apple on Sunday for matchup three.
Visitors were the first to register for the score. Alexis Lafrenière intercepted a pass from Tony DeAngelo before skillfully delivering the disc to Chytil. The latter shot on reception and beat Raanta in speed.
Lafrenière’s trio came close to doubling the lead of the New York formation at the end of the first period. The Quebecer handed the disc to Kaapo Kakko who instantly passed the puck to Chytil, but the goalkeeper imposed himself at the last moment with the end of his pad.
With less than eight minutes to go in the third period, Nino Niederreiter broke away and tried to tie the score. His shot beat Shesterkin, but hit the horizontal bar head-on.
During the counterattack, the Rangers knocked on the door. Leaping on a return shot from Jacob Trouba, Kakko was unable to thread the needle despite Raanta dropping the net.
Seconds after hitting the horizontal bar, Aho broke away past Shesterkin. The New York doorman stopped the first shot, but could not repel the return.
The Hurricanes needed just 3:12 to end the overtime debate. Cole retraced his steps and his spinning wrist shot surprised Shesterkin. Jesperi Kotkaniemi picked up his first point of this playoff on the streak.