The Rangers came out firing out of the gates and got up to an early 2-0 lead just eight minutes in, thanks to two powerplay goals. The Hurricanes pushed hard in the first, outshooting the Rangers 16-11, but Igor Shesterkin was his Vezina calibre self on the night. It was the same story in the second period as well when the Hurricanes outshot them again, 12-9 this time, but found themselves down 3-0.
Things went even more downhill for Carolina in the third. Chris Kreider scored his second of the game four minutes into the third to make it 4-0. Vincent Trocheck scored the Hurricanes' first of the game eight minutes in, but Filip Chytil of the Rangers answered right back. The two teams both had another goal as the final score ended in a 6-2 New York victory.
Rangers goalie Shesterkin was named the first star with 39 saves on the night. New York now moves on the play the back-to-back champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final, which begins on Wednesday. New York will go from facing third-string goalie Louis Domingue in the first round to a second-string goalie Antti Raanta in the second round, to the best goalie on the planet right now in Andrei Vasilevskiy in the third round.
