With the shock of Friday night's trade starting to wear off, the Carolina Hurricanes returned to action on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall debuted Saturday night on Long Island, but the team couldn't hold onto their 2-0 lead, falling in overtime, 3-2, to the Islanders. Both new guys played well, though neither factored into the scoring.
Jack Roslovic missed the game while battling an illness, paving the way for Riley Stillman to make his Hurricanes debut. This also meant the Canes would dress seven defensemen for the contest. Frederik Andersen was between the pipes for Carolina. Igor Shesterkin was in the net for the Rangers, looking to bounce back from a 5-4 loss to the Avalanche on Sunday.
The Canes' start was swift and poignant, earning Hall his first point with his new team. Entering the zone and sitting along the boards, Hall waited to hit Andrei Svechnikov as he skated into the slot. With just 56 seconds off the clock, Svechnikov snapped a shot over Shesterkin's glove to get it going for Carolina. Hall's speed and patience made it all possible.
For the second game in a row, we saw a Hurricane drop the gloves. In his debut, Stillman squared up with Sam Carrick. While Stillman was taken to the ice by the Ranger, it looked like he landed the better shots. Each team would earn a power play but neither would prove successful, ending the first period with the Canes ahead 1-0.
The second period showcased the best from both goaltenders. Shesterkin made some massive stops at the beginning of the frame. Eric Robinson will likely have nightmares after being robbed twice. The latter half of the period belonged to Andersen. His biggest stop of the night might've been aided by Chris Kreider mishandling the puck, but Andersen stuck his toe out to rob Kreider with an open net.
One mistake might've cost the Rangers the game in the final minute. Vincent Trocheck stripped Shayne Gostisbehere of the puck, skating in on a breakaway with the Canes' defender behind him. Instead of shooting, Trocheck tried to pass it to the trailing K'Andre Miller. The pass hit Gostisbehere's skate before the Canes turned it up the ice. The sequence ended with Rantanen making an incredible pass to Svechnikov for a tap-in for his second of the night to extend the lead with 30 seconds left.
The Hurricanes snatched any hopes of a comeback away in the first 150 seconds of the third period. Svechnikov made an excellent play to keep the puck in the offensive zone before Sebastian Aho snapped it under Shesterkin's blocker in one fluid motion. Shortly after, the Staal line put together a heavy shift. Jordan Martinook won a battle behind the net, sliding a pass to Seth Jarvis alone in front to make it 4-0.
From there, the defense took complete control. The Rangers managed just three shots in the final 20 minutes. Mika Zibanejad had a breakaway opportunity late in the game, but Andersen matched him all the way to stop it. As the fans booed to their heart's content, the Hurricanes finished their New York trip with a shutout victory.
The only way I can describe this win is clinical, especially with their effort in the third period. We've seen the Canes on the wrong side of a late-period goal that carried into a dominant 20 minutes in the next period. On Tuesday, the Canes dictated the pace of the third with the lead. The Rangers couldn't beat the layers in front of the net or the sticks in the lanes ready to pick off passes.
Both Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall had excellent second games in their new sweaters. We expected to see that from Rantanen, but Hall has been impressive through six periods. The trade has seemingly breathed new life into his game because he's found instant chemistry with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Andrei Svechnikov.
At the head of it all were the established stars and stalwarts of the group. Svechnikov had two goals and an assist. Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis added goals. The Staal line put in their customary hard work. Jesperi Kotkaniemi extended his point streak to five games on the opening goal. Everyone on defense looked great. It was perfection all the way around.
The final piece in the shutout was the man in the net. Frederik Andersen turned in his best performance of the season, stopping 22 shots to become the fourth goalie to hand an opponent a goose egg. Almost all of his work was done in the first 40 minutes and it was spectacular. He and Shesterkin had a great battle going before the offense opened it up. It's so nice to see him performing at this level after months on the shelf.
Up Next: The Carolina Hurricanes will conclude January at the Lenovo Center on Thursday when Taylor Hall faces the Chicago Blackhawks, the team that traded him to Carolina. They'll begin February at home, hosting the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, before making quick trips to Winnipeg and Minnesota next week.