Hurricanes defeat Rangers, get second win at MSG in their last 20 visits

We’re getting to the end of the regular season, and there’s just silly stuff happening all over the ice. This was a game that embodies that in mind, body, and spirit. The two beasts of the Metropolitan going head to head with the winner leaving the undisputed Metropolitan top dog. With the Rangers’ historical record against Carolina at MSG being stupid, and the Rangers being the in-form team, Carolina was always going to win this because hockey is funny.

There’s so much to talk about with this game, so let’s start with the standings implications. Carolina now rests four points clear at the top of the Metropolitan Division. They opened that up and are now looking better to win the division than they were a few days ago. This is a game Carolina needed to win for the playoff race and they did just that to restore their lead atop the division.

Carolina also tried out a new top-line in this game, and it looks like something that needs to be kept moving forward. That top line had three goals, including the game-winner, and the empty netter at the end of the game and it really let the Hurricanes lead by example. It’s been a long time since the Canes were able to depend on their top line to drag them through a team, and they did that tonight.

In other news, Frederik Andersen is a mad man who wanted to stickhandle into the offensive zone as he was coming off the ice for an extra attacker on a delayed penalty but knew that he would be given a two-minute penalty because the NHL hates fun. What is most impressive about this is that he knew the rule and knew what would happen if he crossed said line and made sure to stay on his side.