The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Rangers 4-1 Monday night in New York and once again avoided elimination.
The Rangers now lead the series 3-2, having won the first three games.
Jordan Staal, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Jordan Martinook and Martin Necas, in an empty cage, found the back of the net for the Hurricanes. Jack Drury had two assists and Frederik Andersen blocked 20 pucks.
Jacob Trouba scored the Rangers’ only goal and Igor Shesterkin stopped 24 of 27 shots aimed at him.
Trouba opened the scoring 6:23 into the second period. The defender came on attack during a two-on-one penalty kill and beat Andersen with a precise wrist shot from the side of the shield.
The Hurricanes saw the Rangers punished for the second time in the game, and in the period, a few minutes after Trouba’s goal. The Hurricanes, however, were not threatening during this power play, not taking any shots on net from Shesterkin.
The Rangers goalkeeper was perfect after 40 minutes, with 18 saves.
After another missed opportunity with an extra player, the Hurricanes finally beat Shesterkin when Staal scored his first goal of the playoffs 3:33 into the third period.
The goal seemed to energize the Hurricanes, who saw Kuznetsov and Martinook score in the next few minutes to make it 3-1 before the halfway mark.
Kuznetsov was rushing towards the net when he recovered a rebound and hit the back of the net at 6:39 of play. Defenseman Brady Skjei collected his eighth assist on the forward’s goal.
Less than four minutes later, Martinook, positioned in the slot, recovered the puck and beat the goalie to double his team’s lead.
Necas confirmed his team’s victory with an empty-net goal at 16:31 of play in the third period.
The sixth game of the series will be played Thursday evening in Raleigh. The Hurricanes will try to win a third consecutive game and force the presentation of a final game on Saturday in New York.