Mats Zuccarello's shootout goal gives Rangers win over Hurricanes

Final SO

Series (Game 2 of 5)

Rangers 3

(16-10-4, 36 pts)

Hurricanes 2

(9-19-4, 22 pts)

7:00 PM ET, December 20,2014
PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina

	1	2	3	SO	T
NYR	0	0	2	1	3
CAR	1	0	1	0	2

K. Klein (Rangers - D): Goals: 1, Assists: 0
R. Nash (Rangers - LW): Goals: 0, Assists: 0
C. Ward (Hurricanes - G): Saves: 32, Save Pct.: .941

 

 

 

 

Associated Press

Rangers Win Fifth Straight

Mats Zuccarello scored the lone shootout goal to give the Rangers a 3-2 victory over the Hurricanes.

Tags: NHL, New York Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes, Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Klein, Jeff Skinner, J.T. Miller

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The New York Rangers kept pressing after they had a tying goal waved off.
They went back out and scored another one -- and then won the game in the shootout.
Mats Zuccarello scored in the tiebreaker, and the Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Saturday night for their fifth consecutive win.
Henrik Lundqvist made 18 saves before stopping all three Carolina attempts in the shootout.
Kevin Klein tied it with 2:23 remaining -- about 5 minutes after the Rangers had a goal for Matt Hunwick disallowed because Carolina goalie Cam Ward's mask had come off.
"Maybe earlier in the year, you get a bounce like that and you get down on yourself," Klein said. "I thought the resilience our team showed, not to let up, we just turned to each other and said, 'Just keep going.'"
J.T. Miller also scored in the third period for the Rangers, who have earned at least one point in nine straight games against Metropolitan Division opponents.
Jeff Skinner and Chris Terry scored, and Ward finished with 32 saves for the last-place Hurricanes, who have lost 11 of 14.
"We've got to play faster. We didn't play fast. We didn't think fast," Carolina coach Bill Peters said. "And we didn't move the puck."
Zuccarello beat Ward with a wrist shot for the only goal of the shootout. Lundqvist stopped Skinner and Nathan Gerbe before gloving Terry's backhand to end it.
Rick Nash's NHL-best 11-game point streak for New York was snapped.
Klein sent this one to overtime when he beat Ward with a hard wrist shot, about 5 minutes after Hunwick's disallowed goal.
Ward said a shot had hit him in the head, and "my strap came loose and it fell off my head."
Lundqvist acknowledged "it was probably the right call" because there was some contact between a Rangers skater and Ward near the net.
Miller pulled the Rangers to 1-1 when he slipped behind three Carolina skaters, took a smooth feed from Zuccarello and beat Ward on a breakaway.
Skinner put Carolina back in front 26 seconds later when he skated up the boards and slipped a backhand between Lundqvist's legs.
"I made a mistake there and it could have cost us," Lundqvist said. "I felt like we deserved the two points, but things happened. The most important thing is, we never gave up here. We kept working hard and I think we deserved this one."
The Rangers have won 13 of 16 against the Hurricanes while scoring at least four goals in nine of those matchups.
They might have had that many in the first few minutes, had Ward not been so sharp early on.
The Rangers peppered him with a series of odd-man rushes in the early moments, only to have him turn them all aside.
"I don't think we got the start we wanted to, but [Ward] was huge for us," Skinner said.
Then the Hurricanes grabbed an early lead when Gerbe skated up the ice and slipped a feed to Terry, who beat Lundqvist at 7:20 for his second goal in two games this season against the New York goalie.
NOTES: C Derick Brassard was back for New York after missing two games with the mumps. ... The teams play again Sunday night in New York.

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

 

 

 

 

Photo Wire

RALEIGH, NC - DECEMBER 20: Justin Faulk #27 of the Carolina Hurricanes battles for a loose puck against Mats...
(Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)

Game Information

Arena: PNC Arena Location: Raleigh, North Carolina

Referees: Rob Martell, Brad Watson Linesmen: Jean Morin, Jean Morin

Attendance: 13,329 (71.2% full)

Team Stat Comparison

New York		Carolina
2	Goals		2
1	Power Play Goals		0
2	Power Play Opportunities		4
0	Shorthanded Goals		0
4	Penalties		2
8	Penalty Minutes		4
34	Shots on Goal		20
41	Hits		33
27	Faceoffs Won		35

Scoring Summary

1st Period			NYR	CAR
7:20		Chris Terry (6) Assist: Nathan Gerbe	0	1
2nd Period			NYR	CAR
No scoring this period			0	1
3rd Period			NYR	CAR
4:01		J.T. Miller (4) (Power Play) Assists: Mats Zuccarello, Ryan McDonagh	1	1
4:27		Jeff Skinner (8) Assists: Elias Lindholm, Justin Faulk	1	2
17:37		Kevin Klein (7) Assists: Chris Kreider, Derek Stepan	2	2
OT			NYR	CAR
No scoring this period			2	2
Shootout Summary			NYR	CAR
	Shootout GOAL scored by Mats Zuccarello on Cam Ward		1	0
	Shootout attempt by Jeff Skinner saved by Henrik Lundqvist		1	0
	Shootout attempt by Derek Stepan saved by Cam Ward		1	0
	Shootout attempt by Chris Terry saved by Henrik Lundqvist		1	0
	Shootout attempt by Nathan Gerbe MISSES		1	0